Death Separates, Songs Unite
by Tsukiko AlienWitch
Summary: Kisshu dies before Deep Blue is awaken. Ichigo is acting weird. She's blowing off at Ryou, she's keeping secrets, and everyone thinks it's because of Kisshu's death. A new alien appears and he looks pissed off. Can Ichigo survive against this new alien?
1. Always With You

**A/N: Hello, everyone! I know that I already let the first chapter of 'History Repeats, Almost' since one of my stories is almost finished but I cannot stop my feelings and ideas. I heard this one song and I desperately wanted to write the first chapter for this story. So this will be story number two when I'm done with my current three stories, which in fact two of them are not even close to finishing, and I'm thinking about number three. I would also like to know which new story of the two that I'm letting out is the best. So I need a vote. I'll send out the second chapter of the winning story, which I have already completed because of the new songs I hear, when chapter number 20 of 'Wounded Hearts' is out, when 'The Truth is Speaking to You, Ichigo' is done, and when chapter number 21 of 'You're a Girl' is out.**

**That's my announcements and please vote! I do NOT own TMM or the songs I use in my stories. Thank you for the wonderful reviews and please keep them coming! Thank you and please enjoy!**

**Death Separates, Songs Unite**

Ch. 1: Always With You

_Sob_

_Sob_

_Sob_

In an abandoned building with decaying wood barley blocking the windows, the air dusty and moldy, and the light shining through only a broken window, there is Mew Ichigo and a body. The light is shining on her back and she's sobbing. She has a few cuts on her arm and legs and her dress is a bit dirtied, but that's not why she's crying. She's crying because she's sitting next to a body that just recently died.

On the body, there are pieces of broken glass on the back and bruises started to form around the body. However, the cause of death is a broken iron pipe that went right through him. He's in a pool of his own blood and Ichigo's knees are just barely touching it. Her dress has a few drops of his blood and there's a pipe size bruise forming on her back.

The person who died right in front of her was someone who protected her. This person took the pipe for her if she had crashed into the window without him behind her. This person confessed his love with his dying breath. This person kissed Ichigo one last time. This person is not the Blue Knight. This person was her enemy.

_Before…_

"_This is mine! You can't have her!!" Kisshu yells. The Blue Knight turns around to see where Kisshu teleported to and he's behind Ichigo with his arms around her._

_Ichigo is surprise by his sudden appearance. "Kisshu?!"_

_He looks at her with a grin and tells her, "Today, you will be mine." Then he kisses her cheek and she turns red from his touch._

"_No! Get off!" she screams. That angers the Blue Knight._

_Taruto yells from the sky, "Kisshu! Stop fooling around!"_

_He mumbles, "Yeah, yeah." Then he teleports from behind Ichigo to behind the Blue Knight. When he noticed, Kisshu has his Sai ready to slice him in half. But with his speed, the Blue Knight was able to block it before it even scratched him. Then Ichigo got her own problems when Taruto and Pai attacked with their kirema anima._

_It started as another aliens vs. Mew Mews battle day. As usual, the aliens would be attacking the city with some ugly kirema anima that was created from a human's spirit and a parasite. Then when Ichigo was in critical danger, the Blue Knight appears and saves her; making Kisshu fairly jealous. Now it's a personal duel with Kisshu and the Blue Knight while the Mew Mews are fighting the other aliens. Then things started to get worst._

_Kisshu swings his Sai down and the Blue Knight blocks it. He pushes him back and Kisshu goes flying but he comes right back. But before he got too close, they hear Ichigo's scream. They look and they see the kirema anima grab Ichigo with its tentacle and it looks like it's going to throw her. It did._

"_Ichigo!" her friends scream as she goes flying towards an abandoned building._

_Kisshu got scared real fast. The Blue Knight runs past him but Kisshu got there faster by teleporting in front of the building, where Ichigo will be crashing. Taruto and Pai see him._

_Taruto screams, "Kisshu!!"_

_Then in one second he was there and the next, Ichigo crashes into him and they both went flying into the abandoned building, Kisshu hitting the glass window first. Both Pai and Taruto panicked but before they could move, the Blue Knight is right in front of them and he looks crazy with rage. He raises his sword above him and he got ready to swing it down on them. They teleport away before the sword hit them._

_When Ichigo wakes up the first thing she feels is a bad pain on her back. __**'Ow! This really hurts,'**__ she thinks, fluttering her eyes open._

_Then she feels arms around her. They tighten around her and she hears a voice in her ear whisper, "Is my little kitten okay?" Immediately, she recognizes the voice as Kisshu._

_Freaked out, she pushes him away and tells him, "Get off me!"_

_She hears him wince and then mumbles, "Can you please not push me so hard, koneko-chan?" His voice sounds clouded with pain. She became confused as she looks towards him and her eyes widen with shock and her pupils got small._

_Ichigo sees the pieces of the glass from the window on his back and she sees the broken pipe sticking out from his chest coming from within a fallen pillar. Ichigo is dead shock as it looks like Kisshu is trying to breathe. A puddle of blood starts growing under him and his hair gets dipped in it. Ichigo is shaking from the sight as Kisshu looks up at her with weak golden amber eyes._

_Kisshu grins at her and asks, "What's with the face, kitty?" Even his voice sounds as weak as his eyes. Ichigo starts freaking out._

"_Oh my god! Kisshu! Hold still, okay? Help will come! Pai and Taruto will come and they'll heal you soon! Just hang on! Don't you dare die on me!" She looks at the worst wound and lifts his shirt up a bit to see the pipe and it looks really bad. She didn't know what to do. Her gloved hand goes to her face and covers her mouth. She asks him, "Kisshu, please tell me! What do I have to do? You'll die at this rate!"_

_Surprising her, his hand reaches for her face and she sits still while his weak, shaky hand strokes her cheek. He smiles this time and tells her, "You don't have to do anything but stay this close. I don't mind if I die so long you're here."_

_She doesn't get it. She just doesn't get it._

"_Why?" she asks. "Why did you save me? Why did you do it?! I don't get it." She's facing the ground when she screams that._

_His answers, "It's because I love you that's why." Her head snaps up to look at him as he tells her, "And because I love you, I can't help but protect you when you're in trouble." That was when she started crying. Tears started leaking out of the corner of her eyes and they roll down her cheeks like crystal balls. She can't help but let them out and Kisshu is surprise to see them. Is she…crying for him?_

_Without another word, Kisshu tries to use the last of his strength to move his hand to the back of her head and pull her down. She's surprise but not as much when he pressed his lips to her. She remains there frozen until he breaks the kiss and smiles at her again. He tells her, "Thank you for tears, kitty. I'll always be with you; watching over you and protecting you from any danger." Bigger tears started to fall from her eyes as it looks like his eyes are getting heavy. He mumbles, "See ya…Ichigo."_

_Then his eyes closed and his hand drops from her face. Her eyes grew wide as, to her, his hand slowly falls to the ground and it lands with a __**thumb**__ on the ground and his own blood. His chest is still and his face looks peaceful. Ichigo didn't want to believe it._

"_KISSSHU!!!!"_

_Now…_

Ichigo is still crying over the dead alien's body. Her tears seem endless and she can tell that the fight is long over. With Pai and Taruto gone and the Blue Knight on a rampage, the kirema anime became easy bait. Right now, the fight didn't matter. All that matter was the dead alien in front of her.

She mumbles, "Who asked you?" She lowers her hands and she screams, "NO ONE ASKED YOU TO DIE SO WHY?!!!" Of course she remembers his words but she didn't want to believe that that was the only reason why he died protecting her. She didn't want to believe it.

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Meanwhile, Pai and Taruto are in the ship and things were quiet between them. The only sounds are the sounds of typing in the computer that Pai is doing and the sobs coming from Taruto. Pai goes to several documents while his face has no tears; just depression for a lost comrade.

Finally, Taruto mumbles, "It's their fault." Pai looks over his shoulders to Taruto as he continues to blame, "It's those Mew Mews fault. They killed Kisshu. It's their fault, it's their fault, it's their fault, it's their fault!"

Pai looks back at the screen and tells him, "Calm your hatred, Taruto. We will have our revenge." Taruto tries to do that. He tries to stop crying as he looks up to what Pai's doing.

"What are you doing?" he asks, unable to figure it out.

Pai answers, "We need reinforcements if we desire revenge for what the humans did to our planet and to Kisshu. Besides, I believe that someone deserves to know of what happened to him." Taruto shivers when he realizes who Pai is talking about.

Trying to make sure, Taruto asks, "You mean…him?"

Pai nods. "Yes."

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"We're getting a signal!" an alien exclaims. His comrades look at him in surprise as he reads the reading of the signal. "It's coming from Pai on earth."

One alien asks, "Pai?!"

The other alien nods and presses a few buttons. Then on the bigger screen for the others to see, Pai is there and they see Taruto on the ruin stairs over his shoulder. Pai greets, "Video message from Pai on planet earth."

One alien asks, "Pai! Have you completed the mission?!" All of the aliens look at him in a hopeful way but Pai shakes his head in disagreement.

"I'm afraid that it is taking us longer to retrieve earth from the humans than we anticipated. However, that is not why I'm contacting you. I wish to speak with Flamiche. It's urgent." From the look on his face and the sound of his tone, they are all greatly concern. One alien goes and teleports away.

Moments later, that same alien comes back through teleportation with a different alien. This alien looks at Pai and asks, "Pai, what's wrong? What urgent business do you wish to speak with me?"

Now comes the hard part and it looks like it's even giving Pai a hard time to say. "Flamiche, I'm afraid to say this but…What I'm trying to say is." He stops himself before he could cause confusion.

Flamiche started to get a bit cautious and a bad feeling started to erupt in his stomach. He quickly asks, "Tell me, Pai! How is Kisshu? Is he well?"

Pai lets out a sigh. It's now or never. Pai has on a blank face as he tells Flamiche and his people with the driest voice they ever heard from him, "I'm afraid that Kisshu has passed. He died in battle between the Mew Mews and us."

Most of the aliens gasp in shock of that. Kisshu…is dead? The only one who didn't gasp and is shaking with disbelief is Flamiche. His eyes are huge and he's trembling. He asks, "H-He's dead? My little brother is…dead?"


	2. He’s Still Here

**A/N: Hello everyone!! Okay, here's the deal! I'll let out the second chapters of the stories that I will be writing after I finish the three current ones. The reasons why I'm letting out the second chapter are because I'm not finish with the chapter that I am working on now and because some pleaded that I absolutely must give them the second chapter or they might go crazy. I love devoted fans like that.**

**I do NOT own TMM or the songs I used in my stories. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews before and please keep them coming!! Thank you and please enjoy!!**

Ch. 2: He's Still Here

_Ring_

"Welcome!" Ichigo greets, seeing the new customers coming in.

One of the girls answer, "Hello, table for five please."

"Okay, but you going have to wait. We're a bit full at the moment."

"That's okay. The rest of our party's not here yet."

"Thank goodness. Please sit down and wait for the next table to be ready."

"Thank you."

Then Ichigo goes off to get the next table their order. She's doing all this with a smile on her face and not once has she complained. Even thought Mint is taking up a table by drinking her tea. That was what's weird. Ichigo hasn't been complaining about the work over load for a week. It almost looks like she's using the over work part as a way to distract herself. She just keeps smiling while her friends can tell that she's not really happy. She's not her usual self since Kisshu died and that was a week ago.

Lettuce goes up behind Mint and says, "I'm worried."

Pudding comes up and says, "I'm worried too, na no da!"

Mint puts down her drinking cup and says, "I don't see why you should. She's doing an excellent job. This might be a once in a life time chance of her not having to complain. Get's herself into less trouble."

Then Zakuro decides to join the group. "But is that better than having Ichigo as her real self?" They all look back at her cheery face and she asks, "Do you believe that that smile is real?"

Mint looks down in the tea in her cup sadly. She knows that acting like nothing is wrong isn't helping. Especially when she can clearly see the fake smile on Ichigo's face. Someone else sees that too and he's getting a little irritated with Ichigo's behavior.

"Ichigo!"

All five girls look up at the kitchen doors and they see Ryou motioning Ichigo to come in. "Can I see you in here for a moment?" Confused, Ichigo walks over to Ryou and he opens the kitchen doors for her. He turns to the other girls and says, "I didn't know you're all on break."

"Sorry!" Lettuce lets out before running to go help a customer. Zakuro went to go deliver a tray of sweets and Pudding went off to take orders, running on a ball style. Mint just went back checking out the tea. Ryou just turned around, back to Ichigo. Keiichiro does not like the look of this little meeting and after that small task they took care of, the other four girls look over the doors to see what's going on.

Ichigo asks, "What's up?" Like nothing's wrong.

Ryou got straight to the point. "What's up is anything but your spirits."

"Uh? What do you mean?"

"For the past seven days, you have not complained. Not once!"

"Well I just figured out that every time I complain, you cut my pay by five yen. If I stop whining, then there will be no need to cut my pay. And even if there is another reason why my pay is getting cut, I'll take the tips as the fill in."

"That's not what I mean, Ichigo. You're not yourself and you haven't for seven days."

"Okay, now I know you're wacked up! I've been getting up in the morning, going to school, seeing Aoyama-kun when I can, come to work on time, working my butt off, spending time with family and friends, and you're getting angry at me for no good reason."

"If you don't knock this crap off, there will be a reason for me to completely cut your pay to zero for two weeks."

"You can't do that! You're beyond cruel, Ryou!"

"Well you're acting like someone in mourning!"

That made Ichigo shock and the girls couldn't believe that Ryou just told her that straight on.

He relaxes his anger a bit and tells her, "I know that it's about Kisshu's death and I will admit that his death was honorable in a very weird and confusing way, but you can't let his sacrifice rule the way you live. You're not yourself and it's worrying everyone." Ichigo looks down on the ground after that. She has a guilty and grieving face on and everyone can see it. Then Ryou added. "Look at the bright side of his death. With one alien dead, it means that the battle will soon end and you can have the normal life that you always wished to share with your boyfriend." As true as that is, it made Ichigo crack.

_Slap_

Everyone stares in surprise of that. Ichigo is glaring daggers at Ryou while he's surprise that he hit her. She yells, "How can you be so heartless, you bastard?!!" Now even the customers can hear them from outside and they're surprise by the Ichigo's cursing. She stomps her feet like a little kid and tell him, "I swear, Kisshu has a better heart than you'll ever have!!!"

After that, she storms out of there. She accidently bangs the doors at her friends and starts glaring at them too for listening in on their conversation. Without another word exchanged, she runs to the dressing room and locks the door behind her. Her friends chase after her as Ryou is wondering what the heck her problem is. Minutes later, Ichigo opens the door and she has her school uniform and her school bag in hand. The girls jump from her sudden opening and she's giving them angry eyes.

Ichigo passes them and sticks half of her body in the kitchen. She yells, "I'm taking a break. A LONG one! I need a vacation from the café for a while." Ryou and Keiichiro are surprise by that as Ichigo is already on her way to the door.

Ryou comes out and tells her, "It will cut down on your pay!"

She was already half way to the door by then and some of the girls are scared of her. Ichigo turns to Ryou and tells him in a cool, angry voice, "I can care less about my pay now, you slave driver." Then she goes to the door and slams it on her way out. Everyone is surprise by her attitude.

Ichigo walks straight home and not with a pleasant attitude. Not even the walk home calmed her attitude. She stomped her way home. But when she saw the familiar building, she was able to relax a bit. But her aura is angry, dark, and scary. When she enters the house, that was the first thing her parents notice.

Her mom asks, "Ichigo honey, what's wrong? You're home early."

"And upset," her father says. "What happened? Ichigo?" Ichigo just went up the stairs but her father asked the question when she started.

She answers, "A boy ruined my day." Then thing went silent while she continues her way up the stairs and down the hallway to her room. All the while, her father is throwing a fit down stairs with his wife.

"See! I told you that that boy is nothing more than a trouble maker to Ichigo! I should kill him for making my little girl upset!"

"I highly doubt that it's Aoyama-san's fault that she's upset, honey. Try to calm down."

The rest of the conversation died out while Ichigo enters her room and closes the door behind her; muffling the voices so that she won't hear and end up getting angry with her father. She leans on the door a little bit longer and stares at the ground. After a bit, she starts chanting with a singing voice.

"_Come out, come out, where ever you are,_" she starts, dropping her school bag on the ground and starts walking to the bed. "_I know you're here, you can't hide from me._" She sits down on the edge of the bed. "_Come out, come out, where ever you are._"

Then she felt arms coming out behind her and she hears from a familiar, teasing, carefree voice, "_Here I am!_" Ichigo looks to her shoulder and sees her hugger; Kisshu. He smiles at her and says, "Thanks, koneko-chan. For getting me out so early. I've missed you, my little kitten." Then he kisses her cheek.

Hard to believe but it's Kisshu. He's really here with her on her bed, hugging her with his arms circling around her neck and leaning on her left shoulder. However, it's not a live Kisshu. This Kisshu is a bit transparent and only Ichigo can see him. Even though she can feel his arms around her and his lips on her cheek, she can only feel his touch; not his warmth. Nor can she push him away. Her hand just goes right through.

After the Kisshu tells her, "Take a nap! I'm bored and I want to play cards since I can't hold anything in the real world."

Ichigo answers, "Not yet. I just feel like talking right now." He's confused as he pulls his arms off her.

He asks with a face full of sincere and concern, "Kitty, what's wrong?"

While Kisshu remains sitting down on the bed, Ichigo gets up and turns to him. That was when she starts venting. She walks back and forth, left to right as she's yelling on how Ryou made her upset and how her friends are being a bit irritating with just watching her during walk hours, not saying anything and just listening in on conversations. Kisshu is just fascinated on how she started off with a matter-of-fact voice and then went to angry voice. He actually tells her that when she stopped to pant.

After he asked, Ichigo glares daggers at him and asks, "Do you want me to slap you when she's taking a nap."

He's not scared at all. He tells her with a matter-of-fact-voice, "No, but I still want you to sleep."

Ichigo lets out a sigh and gives in. "Fine, I'll take a nap. The real world is too tiring anyway." Then she walks to the bed.

"That's my good little kitty," Kisshu calls her with a sweet voice. She really wishes that he stops that because it's annoying and it used to freak her out. By now, she's used to it but still annoyed.

Ichigo walks back to the bed and he gets off to hover over her while she lays on the bed and closes her eyes. Kisshu watches her as Ichigo starts drifting off to sleep thanks to her cat genes.

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"Reverse Revolution," Ichigo calls.

Kisshu growls at that. "How the hell?!" he asks. Ichigo just giggles at his frustration and grins in victory.

They're both in Ichigo's dream and they're playing Rich Man, Poor Man. They're playing in a beautiful setting that consists of green luscious trees, healthy grass, a crystal clear river on the side, blue skies, and a deck of cards. Kisshu is losing bad while Ichigo is winning big. She seems to be in a better mood now that she's creaming him.

Kisshu yells, "After this, I demand a new game!! Something I can actually win in!"

She laughs at him. "Sore loser," she calls him.

While she's laughing, he tries to calm down. Then he smiles at Ichigo's laugh. He points out, "You're not angry anymore." She stops laughing then, surprise by that. That's right, she's not anymore. Then he tells her, "Thanks by the way. For sticking up for me." His free hand reaches for her cheek and he starts stroking it. She's surprise by the touch. In the dream world, she can feel his warmth like he really is alive. Then he leans towards her and kisses her forehead. She can even feel the small warmth of his lips on hers. She turns red while he looks down in her eyes and smirks. "I knew you always like me more than that school boy." Then he closes his eyes to try and kiss her lips.

She on the other has better sense. She stops him by placing her middle finger and her index finger on his lips and smirks. He's confused with his eyes open as she says, "Nice try, Kisshu."

He sits back down and pouts. "Fooey!" She just shakes her head in disappointment with a smirk on her face. But then he smirks and tells her, "You know that your resistance only makes you more desirable."

"And you were going to kiss me because then once innocent me gets into it, you'll peak at my cards." Now Kisshu is surprise of that.

He pouts even more and says, "Damn, she's right."


	3. Why He’s Here

Ch. 3: Why He's Here

It's school time and Ichigo is trying to focus. Since it's the new school year and that means new school class groups, she's finally in a class with Masaya and has been observing his brilliance in all of the subjects. But they're sitting so far apart. She's in the second row and he's in the fourth row out of five rows. She couldn't be more disappointed but it's not the thought of not sitting next to her prince charming that she's upset about. What's distracting her is that the other aliens that are still alive haven't attacked since Kisshu died. Ichigo can still remember his words when she told him about that.

"_**I know Pai and I know Taruto. My death is not going to make them give up. I may be the strongest but they are pretty strong themselves so they won't be discouraged. Besides, they love their people too much to give up."**_

'_Yeah, I know,'_ she thinks like he's still here. _'But it's suspicious. Not even an alien alert or any suspicious events happened around the city.'_

Ichigo just sighs at that and Masaya notices after looking up from the math equation on his book.

"Aoyama! Please give us the answer."

Masaya looks up and says, "Yes, sir." Then he stands up to give the answer.

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"Ichigo, is there something bothering you?" Masaya finally asks. Ichigo looks up from her barely eaten bento when he asks that. She didn't expect him to ask.

Right now it's lunch time and both Ichigo and Masaya are sitting on the roof of the school by themselves and they're eating lunch together.

Masaya looks at her with eyes full of concern as he tells her, "If there is anything wrong, you can tell me."

She gets into dreamy land by when he asks her that. He's so nice and cool when he tells her that. He's an understanding person, at least that's what Ichigo sees when she looks at him. But there is one concern. Should she tell him about Kisshu's death and him still being here along with the alien's strange behavior of not attacking earth?

"Are you upset because you're upset about what happened to Kisshu?"

She gasps and flinches at that. She got out of dreamy land and is utterly surprise by that. She's not surprise that he knows about Kisshu. She's surprise that he knows that he died. She asks, "How did…How did you know that?" Now he's confused. Masaya looks away from her and looks at the ground in front of her. "Aoyama-kun?"

"How did I know?" he asks, mostly towards himself. Then he starts seeing images. He sees swords clashing, blasts, monsters, and glass. He can even feel rage starting to boil up but he doesn't know where it's coming from.

Then suddenly, he sits up with his lunch in hand. Ichigo is even more confused as he tells her, "Sorry, Ichigo. I have to go." Then he just left her there on the roof.

Ichigo is dumbstruck but she's curious. She's curious about how Masaya knew.

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"_Come out, come out, where ever you are,_" Ichigo chants as soon as she enters her room.

After school, Ichigo just went straight home without even visiting the café and without Masaya. There was kendo practice and he didn't look well. She tried to get him to go home and get some rest but he just smiled and told her that he'll be fine. So she left and now she's home and she's walking to the edge of the bed while she finished the chant.

"_I know you're here, you can't hide from me. Come out, come out, where ever you are._"

Then like in every entrance, he hugs her from behind and finishes, "_Here I am!_" Moment later, she feels his lips on her cheek again. "Good afternoon, my little kitty!"

"Good afternoon," she greets back but with a more dead voice. He notices that.

Kisshu asks, "Koneko-chan, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Then Ichigo tells him her day.

"Well I was out of it in class because I had other important things on my mind. Important things such as the alien attacks and their strange little break period. I got caught by the teacher for that but then I was still wondering about that when it was lunch time. I was with Aoyama-kun and it was just me and him on the roof like our own private date." After she said that with a dreamy voice and hearts in her eyes, Kisshu got upset. Ichigo notices the sudden disappearance of his touch but looks up in front of her to see Kisshu sitting in the air cross legged and his hands crossed in front of him with an annoyed and jealous look. His fingers are even tapping in an impatient matter. She continues with her story when she saw him in front of her. "But here comes the weird part. He was asking me of how I was doing these pass couple of days because I was being less cheery, or so they say. Before I could reassure him that I am perfectly fine, he asks me if I was depressed about your death." Kisshu flinches in surprise of that and stops tapping his finger.

He asks, "Did you tell him about me dying?"

She shakes her head. "No and that's the weird part. Aoyama-kun knows that I am a Mew Mew, the reason why I can't make it to dates some times, and that I'm fighting aliens and monsters to save all of humanity. But I never told him events like a new thing that happened in town. I don't want him getting worried if I told him that I nearly drowned in the dam or that I nearly fell to my death from Tokyo tower. When he asks, I answer and usually it's to wonder on what I needed to do that would cause me to cancel a date or something like that. He hasn't asked me of what happened lately so when he asked me if I was depressed, I was surprise." Then she lets out a sigh of exhaustion. "I swear! These past few days just keep piling more and more stress on me." Kisshu blinks at this but then smirks as a plan comes to mind.

He appears right in front of her and tries to be cute. She's surprise that he's in her face and he has the big puppy dog eyes and the small mouth look as he asks, "Am I the cause of your stress, koneko-chan?" with a baby voice. The look in his eyes when he pleaded her and the sound of his voice is just making Ichigo nervous and gives her the shutters.

Then there was something she notices. It was the first five seconds, he was only five inches away but then he ends up two inches closer. Immediately he knows what he's going to do. Him coming closer and closer and closing his eyes proves that theory. But since she's not asleep yet, she just ducks passes his body. It is a transparent so he felt her go through him and he turns around to see her stinks her tongue out while sitting on her bed.

"Nice try," she tells him. Now he just looks hurt. Ichigo can actually see puppy dog ears and tails coming out while he's giving her the puppy dog pow and sitting across from her on the bed.

"Koneko-chan, you're mean," he whines, trying to be cute again.

Ichigo just tries to pat him on the head, not hard that her hand goes through and reminds, "And yet you died for mean old me." Then her hand stays on his head. Then she asks him, "Why are you here, Kisshu?"

He's surprise to hear that. So much that he stands up straight and causes her hand to be pulled back. To her, it looks weird on how his hand can go right through his head. He crawls closer, not to kiss her but to be close and asks, "Don't you remember anything I said when I was alive?"

She tells him, "I remember perfectly." He's doesn't look convinced.

"Go to sleep!" he tells her.

"Uh?"

"Take a nap, kitty. You had a long day and your physical body needs to rest."

"Alright, alright," she tells him, giving in. "But any funny business and you're doomed, got it!"

"I'll take that for granted because I know you're serious."

She gives him the eye for that but she lies on the bed and tries to calm down. She closes her eyes and waits for sleep to take over and take her to dream land. But as soon as she enters, she sees a memory.

First she sees a broken glass window, glass still fallowing and even the windows next to it are all blocked off with bars of wood nailed to it. She knows that look and soon she hears voices; hers and Kisshu's voice. She turns around and she sees a dying Kisshu reaching for her face and starts stroking it. His shakiness is visible even from so far away.

"You don't have to do anything but stay this close," he tells her. "I don't mind if I die so long you're here."

The real Ichigo just looks like she's ready to cry from this memory as the dream Mew Ichigo cannot believe that her enemy just took the hit of the pipe for her and all that she gets is a bruise.

"Why?" she asks. "Why did you save me? Why did you do it?! I don't get it."

"It's because I love you that's why. And because I love you, I can't help but protect you when you're in trouble." That was when Mew Ichigo started to cry. She cried tears that escaped her eyes and started to drip down her face quicker than the real Ichigo. She's still holding them in because she already experience this. Seeing it again just hurts less than it did back then.

Seeing her tears, the dying Kisshu used the last of his strength to kiss Ichigo one last time. Mew Ichigo didn't expect to see that coming so she was speechless after Kisshu kissed her. He just smiled at her with weak dying eyes.

"Thank you for tears, kitty. I'll always be with you; watching over you and protecting you from any danger. See ya…Ichigo." Then he died. Simple and painfully as that. But this dream didn't go as far as letting Ichigo hear her own scream for him after she realized that Kisshu will never open his eyes again in the living breathing world.

The dreamed ended with that and the scenery changed to darkness but only the darkness of outer space. She saw all of the nine planets in the solar system as if they're really close instead of billions and billions of miles away. It was only the millions of stars shining so brightly and beautiful that look billions and billions of miles away. She feels like she's standing on solid ground and she feels Kisshu's arms around her from behind.

He whispers in her ear, "I'm here because I want to protect and watch over you, my little kitten. I'm not ready to move on yet and I don't care if other people cannot see or hear me. Just so long as you can hear and see me." Then her legs got weak. After watching that, she didn't have the strength to stand. He came down with her and she just sits there, trying to hold back tears that might come to the surface. Then to her small surprise, Kisshu lets go of her and his hands slide to her back. She gets this tingly feeling in her gut as she can feel his hands going under her shirt and lifting it up a bit. He lifted it pass her bra strap to see that small pipe size bruise that she got when he died. Then he kisses it and the pressure hurts but it felt warm and it made Ichigo's cheeks red. But there was one thing, he's kissing her back when it's passing her bra strap. After the kiss, she turns around and bonks him on the head. In a dream, he can feel that and her hand doesn't go through him.

"Just because you can get me all emotional like that and possibly a little guilty, it doesn't mean you can do that, you perv!" she scolds.

He looks at her with pouty eyes as he rubs his head. Then he goes back to his old Kisshu self as he asks, "Koneko-chan, do you remember how we were able to be reunited again?"

That brought her back to reality, kind of. She puts her hands on her hips and she's giving him the eye. "How can I forget? You scared the life out of me!"

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"_How the heck are you still here?!!"_ _Ichigo screams, looking at the hovering Kisshu._

_Before, Ichigo was on her bed, curled up in a ball and crying. Then when she tries to sing a happy tune, she suddenly felt arms around her; no warmth, just the touch of someone holding her. Then she heard someone tell her not to cry and she recognizes the voice as Kisshu's. When she looked up, he moved his arms and looked at her straight in the eye. After a couple of moments, she screamed._

_Kisshu raises his hands up and faces his palms at her while says, "Ichigo, honey, please try to calm down." But Ichigo didn't listen._

_She just grabs the side of her head and realizes, "Oh my god, your death was a dream wasn't it?!" Kisshu just blinks in surprise._

"_No it wasn't," he tries to tell her._

_But she insists, "Yes it was! Oh my god!" Then she looks up at him with an angry and dangerous look. She gets off her bed and stands up. She points to the window and orders, "Get out, NOW!! Before, not only will I call the Mew Mews on you, I will fetch the Blue Knight and he will so kick your sorry butt back to your ship!"_

_Kisshu gets up as well and tries to reason with her. "Ichigo! I am dead."_

"_No you're not! Otherwise you wouldn't be here!"_

"_Look at me! Do I look WHOLE to you?"_

_She looks at his body and she has to admit one thing. He does look a bit transparent, but this is really surreal. She just shakes her head and turns around. She starts walking to the door. "I need a glass of milk! This cannot be happening!"_

"_Ichigo, wait!" he calls, flying after her._

_She yells, while walking backwards, "No! Stay the heck away from me, Kisshu! I don't want to see you! Get out!!"_

"_Kitten, please try to just calm down and understand."_

"_I'll calm down when you're out of here! Stop fallowing me!"_

"_Why? It's not like anyone can see me!"_

"_But two people will because both of my parents are down stairs and if you continue to fallow me-"_

"_Ichigo, who are you talking to?"_

_Ichigo looks from Kisshu to her parents after that. She was going to say something that was threatening but when her mom asked her that, she got distracted. She sees her mom cooking dinner in the kitchen and she sees her father sitting at the table, reading the newspaper since he got home. He's looking at her as well and they both look concern and worry._

_Kisshu tells her with his full voice, "They can't see me. Watch." Then he goes over and flies in front of the mom and waves his hands in front of her, no reaction. He goes to the father and tries to flap his paper from his hands, but Kisshu's hand goes right through it like he really isn't there. Ichigo was speechless but with two very confused parents staring at her, Ichigo had to think of something._

_She choose acting like an idiot._

"_Hahahahaha!!" she laughs. "Sorry about that. I was just reliving something that happened the other day and I forgot that it happened that day instead of today!"_

_Her father instantly asks, "Was it a boy?" Kisshu raises a brow as he stares at the father in surprise as Ichigo looks at Kisshu for a moment of thought._

_She answers, like she's talking to Kisshu, "Yes, it was a boy." Her father looks like he's ready to go all up and arms about that while both her mom and Kisshu look at her in surprise. Ichigo takes a step towards the stairs and tells them, "Please excuse me!" Then she runs up the stairs and Kisshu fallows her, shortly after. But instead of waiting for him to come through the open door, Ichigo closes her door and Kisshu ends up going pass the closed door, making Ichigo jump._

"_Don't do that!" she scolds, not loud enough for her parents to hear. "I'm trying to not come to the conclusion that you are a ghost because I hate ghost!"_

"_Well sorry to burst your bubble," Kisshu tells her dryly while completely entering her room through the door, "but I am a ghost. Remember?"_

"_I remember watching you die," Ichigo mumbles. "That did happen, right?"_

_He nods. "That's right. It did. After I died, I saw what every human described in the book." Ichigo blinks in surprise of this. She stays quiet while he tells her, "I saw this big white light and thought about going in. But I heard that after you die, you're not supposed to go into the light."_

"_That light was called heaven, Kisshu. Even though I don't know how you can be accepted into there," she mutters the end very softly but he still heard her. But before he could say anything, she tells him, "The only time you hear that you're not supposed to go into the light is when someone is telling you not to when you're dying. I distinctly remember that I didn't tell you that."_

"_Thanks for the affection considering that I didn't go into the light for you," Kisshu grumbles, crossing his arms in front of his chest._

_Ichigo turns a bit red and tells him, "You didn't have to do that! Kisshu, listen to me. You died. You're time on earth is over and your business is finished. You should have gone into that light when you had the chance."_

"_But my business is not finished yet," he tells her. She looks up at him with curious eyes and a slightly open mouth and all of a sudden, his eyes seem strangely caring. His hand reaches for her face and when he tries to touch her, the tips of his fingers disappeared. He pulls it back as Ichigo gasps in surprise. She can feel his touch but no warmth. Still, he tells her, "I heard you crying for me so I came back. I didn't want to leave you just yet."_

_That moment would have been a really sweet heart to heart confession moment but Ichigo has a guy and this ghost in front of her is still the same carefree, annoying alien who bothered her even when he was alive. Now she has to deal with him when he's dead?!_

_Ichigo tries to slap his hand away but her arm goes right through. Kisshu pulls his hand back anyway to examine it and Ichigo asks before going into shock, "Are you telling me that I'm haunted by you now?"_

_There, Kisshu gives her one of his well known smirks that are full of teasing and trouble. He leans closer to her, close to enough that she could smell taste his breathe if he was alive and says, "Seems like it, kitty cat. You're stuck with me for life."_

_Ichigo takes a step back and holds her forehead with her palm. She looks like she's having a heart attack. "Oh dear god!!"_

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In the same outer space setting, Ichigo throws down a card and is revealed to be a ten. "Then after that little drama, we found out that every time I sing, you appear in front of me like you were summoned."

"And when you're asleep, even if you don't 'summon' me in the real world, I appear and we can pretend like I'm still alive. We can touch without going pass the other, hold objects, and feel," Kisshu adds before putting down his card. It was a six. Ichigo takes those two and puts it in her big pile of cards.

Ichigo puts down another card and finishes, "Then when I wake up, you're gone and you will only appear in front of me again when I sing. I call your name, you don't come."

"Considering that when I first appeared, you were singing to yourself to calm your soul. You're a pretty good singer, koneko-chan," he tells her, giving her a sweet smile.

She however grins and tells him, "Don't try to flatter me and put down your card." Kisshu obeys and Ichigo wins another battle in War once again. Ichigo smiles and giggles while Kisshu has a vein pulsing on his head. "This is beyond ridiculous! You must be cheating since this is your dream!"

"Excuse me, but who was the one who choose to play cards in the middle of outer space?" she asks, grinning.

"I feel comfortable here and if I'm the one who has the power to choose the setting, how could you be getting all the good cards?!"

Ichigo tells him, "Aw, come on, Kisshu! Don't be such a poor loser." She puts down another card and it's a three. Trouble appears on her face as Kisshu now starts to think that he has a chance at this one.

But the next card he puts down ends up being a two. Ichigo lets out a sigh of relief as Kisshu does seriously not believe his luck. Ichigo takes the two cards happily and Kisshu grumbles, "I hate cards…"


	4. A Date

Ch. 4: A Date

"Koneko-chan! Let's go on a date!" Kisshu cheers. Ichigo looks at him with the corner of her mouth up in disgust and her eyes showing the same thing.

She asks, "A date? Are you delusional? No!" She looks away from him on the bench and crosses her arms over her chest.

Kisshu flouts from the side of her to in front of her and leans closer. "Come on, Kitty! Please!!"

It's after school and since Ichigo doesn't have a café to work at and Masaya has a club meeting he had to attend to, she thought she can have some time to herself in the park. She was just relaxing on the bench and enjoying the sun on her face, the sounds of a peaceful Tokyo city, and the feeling the wind in her hair. It actually started to make her hum and that hum soon turned into a song and that song causes Kisshu to appear in front of her. Ichigo's once peacful moment was there and gone as soon as he appeared. Now he's insisting on a date!

Kisshu whines and puts on the sad puppy eyes. Ichigo gulps and flinches back as she sees the dog ears and the dog tail coming out. "Please, koneko-chan!" he pleads with a high pitch voice as he leans closer to her. "Just one date on this wonderful day. Besides you need a rest from all the stress you've been getting lately."

"Uh?" she asks, his ears and tail long gone now along with his puppy eyes.

He asks, "Well didn't you get a whole lot of stress from standing up for me at the café? Not to forget that there is the stress from how your _boyfriend_ seemed to know about my death when you didn't tell him and the suspicion about my friends not making a move against the humans lately." Ichigo can hear the venom in his voice when he mentioned the love of her life so she raises a brow and crosses her arms in front of her chest.

Kisshu rolls his eyes since he knows why she's angry. But he gets on his knees and pleades. "Please, please, please!! I'll never complain about those cards ever again!" Now seeing him like that made Ichigo let out a small laugh.

She tells him, "Fine! But it's not a date, it's a rest."

Kisshu's eyes perk up and his smile brightens on his face. He gets up and jumps up and down, cheering. "Yes! Yes! Yes!!" He flies over to her and gives her a kiss on the cheek. "I knew you like me!"

"Don't get full of yourself," she tells him. "I only agreed because I need the break from reality for a bit. Also, you don't have to stop complaining. I like it when I'm kicking your butt and you're all frustrated."

Kisshu pouts angrly and mutters, "You're cruel, koneko-chan."

"Stop calling me that," she tells him. "So what is on the first things we need to do on this 'rest'?"

He smirks and tells her, "Well I always imagined that when you're on a _date_ with me, we start with kissng." He says this while leaning closer to her face.

When he became only an inch away from her, she ducks and gets off the bench. He looks at her in confusion as she stands up and smirks at him. "Nice try! How about a tour of the city? A walk sounds nice and you never seen the city without getting the idea of destroying it first."

Kisshu rolls his eyes again and asks, "Excuse me but who's taking you on a date?" He stands up and gives her one of his pleasureful smirks that makes her heart skip a beat. She ignores it since it happened only a second and she rolls her eyes this time.

"You're taking me on a _rest_ but I'm taking you on a tour. Now hurry up! We're wasting day light here!" Then she goes walking out of the park and Kisshu shrugs his shoulders before fallowing her. There he was amazed.

"Kitty! What's this?" Kisshu asks, his face brightened up like a child's. "It smells good here."

Ichigo tells him through her teeth, "It's called a bakery and would you calm down for at least five minutes without flying towards some dashboard and flying through it! It's freaking me out and how do we not know that other people can see you? Like seers or physics or something?!"

Kisshu goes up to her and places his transparent finger on her lips the second she let the last syllable escape. She looks from the finger to him as he tells her, "Would _you_ relax, koneko-chan? No one else can see me besides you." He removes his finger as he reminds, "Besides you're the one who told me to stop looking at the city like the most disgusting thing on the planet."

"Yeah but," she tries to say, stepping back from his finger.

But he quickly tells her, "But nothing! Now relax and allow me to do what I please on this little date tour."

"This is not a date!"

"It is in my book." He looks to the side, across the street and he sees something. He asks, "Kitty cat, what's that?"

She looks up and it's an Arcade. She can see why it caught his eyes. The place is full of bright colors, there's human children inside who are laughing and winning tokens, and everyone seems to be having a good time. She explains, "That's called an Arcade. Kids love to go in there to play games and win prizes from the tickets they collect when they win a game. It's fun but very costly."

"Do you want to go in?"

She looks at him in confusion as he's looking at her, waiting for an answer. She tells him, "I haven't been to an arcade since I was little."

"And I see in there people who appear older than you. This is a resting date, remember? Relax and forget about the Mew Mews, aliens, and kirema animas for a bit."

"How can I forget when I see your big elf like ears and know you're an alien."

"Ignore it and stop making excuses."

Then he goes flying off to the otherside and Ichigo watches him fly right through the trucks and cars that could have hit him if he had a whole body. It made her skin crawl even more. When he lands, he turns around and yells, "Come on, Kitty cat! No one else is watching but you!"

Ichigo yells, "Yeah, you're happy about that aren't you?!"

Some of the people look towards where she was screaming at but there is no one. So either she is a weirdo or she's completely upset about the little kids in the Arcade. Instead, Ichigo walks over to the cross walk and presses the walk button. Few minutes later, the light changes to green to go and she walks over to the door to the Arcade where Kisshu was hovering in the air with his hands under his head and leaning back like he's on a solid flat surface.

She tells him, "I'm here!" with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

He lands on his feet and tells her, "Finally! Why did you take forever just to get here?"

"Well unlike you, Mr. Impatient, I can't go through cars and trucks while flying through the air. I'm still solid and I'm human!" she reminds him.

He mumbles under his breathe, "Sadly." She heard him and glares at him. He ignores that and starts flying to the door. "Let's go!" Then he flies right through it and tries her best to ignore it. Wasn't this rest suppose to lower her stress levels? Not increase them!

Kisshu went over to one machine and notices that it's empty. The name is Dance Dance Revolution. "Whoa!! Koneko-chan! What's this?"

Ichigo looks up and sees him at the DDR game. She walks over and answers, "That's a dancing game, sort of. You get on these platforms and with each step that comes up, you hit with your feet."

Kisshu raises a brow at that and looks like he's thinking about it. He tells her, "Try it!"

"What?!" she asks, surprised.

"I want to see you play. I can't play since I can't step on it but you can. I want to to watch! Please koneko-chan!!"

Ichigo lets out a sigh and goes to her bag. She takes out her wallet and takes out a one thousand yen bill. She tells him, "Fine but just this once! This game is expensive."

"You humans and your value of money!"

"Someday, you might understand."

Ichigo puts the bill inside the machine and Kisshu watches in curiosity as it sucks the bill and starts. Ichigo choose what style she wants to dance in, what character, and what level. She choose single, a girl with a blue turtle neck shirt with bright orange pants and short pink hair, and she choose difficult. When it went to the list of songs, she started pressing the buttons to look through them.

"Now where is that song…" she mumbles.

Kisshu is curious as he asks, "What song?"

"Ah, found it!" she cheers. When Kisshu looks, she sees that the song title is 'Love Shine'. Ichigo presses the green button and says, "Now lets see how rusty I am!" Then the music started and the steps appeared. Kisshu watches as Ichigo, at first, looks like she's struggling. He saw that.

"Come on, koneko-chan! You fight better than this!"

"Shut up, Kisshu!" she yells, before turning back into the screen and hits the left step a little early. That's a miss.

Then Kisshu flouts behind her and she gasps in surprise as she can feel his hands on her shoulder and his lips near her ear. "Calm down, kitty. You're so tense. Just relax and have some fun." Ichigo blushes and her heart is beating fast in her chest. He whispers, "Left."

Like he put her under a magic spell, she steps on the left arrow just in time. She's surprise but smiles as he tells her, "Now jump on up and down same time." She does and she hits it right on time.

For the rest of the song, he tells her the steps precisely and she hits them at the right time. She got a marvelous at each step. When the results came up after the song, she got a **B**, because of all the other misses she had in the beginning. Ichigo cheers, "Yes!! A **B**!! I thought I was going to get something much worst."

Kisshu backs away and he has on a smug face. "And it was all thanks to my brilliant instructions."

She smirks and tells him, "Well let's see what I can do without your brilliant teachings!" She presses the green button and goes to the next song. She goes through the list and chooses 'Xepher'. "Perfect!!"

Kisshu looks at the level and it's worst than 'Love Shine'. "Are you sure you should try this one?"

She has the smug face as she asks, "What? Don't think I can handle it? Well I'm about to prove you wrong! Prepare yourself to be amazed!!" She presses the green button and the music starts.

Kisshu decides to watch and she was right. He wasn't prepared to see her fly over that platform and get all of the steps right. Surprising thing is that in difficult level, this song is really expert compared to 'Love Shine'. Besides how well she's doing, Kisshu sees that smile on Ichigo's face and the sparkle in her eyes. She actually looks like she's having a lot of fun. He lets out a chuckle and smiles at her. Her eyes are on the screen so she didn't see.

At the end of the song, Ichigo collapses and leans on the metal stand behind her. She waits for the results while feeling completely exhausted and out of breathes. She looks up and she got an **AA**. That's really good!

Ichigo smiles before jumping up and screaming, "Alright!!" She turns to Kisshu and tells him, "Take that! See how well I can do without your brilliant teachings?"

He tells her, "Alright, alright. You got me but can you do it again?"

She smirks in acceptance. "Kisshu, terrifying alien of the world, I accept your challenge! Prepare to be disappointed!"

After that, she goes to the next song and flies over the platform again. Kisshu just stands by and watches. After playing DDR and getting another chance to play since she got two **AA**'s, Ichigo led Kisshu to the other games. There was one where she had to hit the sharks that came out of the hole and Kisshu was cheering all the way. Then they went to play 'House of the Dead' because Kisshu made her do that on a dare. Surprising, she went pretty far, mostly because she was shooting the zombies more than necessary when they came and tried to eat her. She shot mostly out of fear and Kisshu had to admit that her reaction and screams were very entertaining.

After the Arcade, Ichigo took Kisshu on the tour once again. This time, Ichigo was having a lot of fun, especially with Kisshu - the same alien who annoyed her with his attempts to hold her and kiss her and the same alien who kept trying to kill her on a regular daily basis. This was really a break from all of the stress she's been having lately. Nearly two hours later, both Kisshu and Ichigo are walking through the park and she has an ice cream in her hand. They stroll through the park and are laughing. Some of the humans are looking at them weird, especially Ichigo. However, Ichigo and Kisshu weren't the only ones who walking through the park.

Masaya is walking down the cement path not too far from Ichigo and Kisshu but their paths are separated by a thin layer of trees. He just came from café after practice to visit Ichigo, but they told him that Ichigo is on vacation. So now he's walking home since he doesn't have time to go to her home when she hears her laughing.

"Seriously?!" she asks.

Kisshu answered, "Saw it with my own eyes!"

"Huh? Ichigo?" And who's that?

Masaya looks to the side to where he hears the laughing and not only does he see Ichigo walking with a ice cream cone in her hands and looking up, he also sees Kisshu walking with her or flying next to her. But the weird thing to him is that Kisshu's form goes in and out for him. Like a bad reception on TV. He's there and then he's gone for an instant before he comes back again. Masaya is surprised by this. First off, he thought Kisshu was dead and second, Ichigo looks like she's on a date with him, the way she's smiling and laughing. Out of curiosity, he decides to fallow them while remaining hidden.

Ichigo and Kisshu arrived back at the bench they were before and sat down after a tiring day of walking around. But now Ichigo can't stop laughing.

She tells him, "You're lying!"

"But it's true, koneko-chan!" he tells her. "When Pai made one little mistake in an experiment, he turned yellow for a week! His hair took a month! Then when Taruto tried to do something, he turned part dog, part monkey, and part sloth." Now he's starting to laugh uncontrollably. "He looked so hilarious I thought I was going to die laughing! He had the body of a dog, a face and tail of a monkey, and the movement's of a sloth. It took him two hours to get from one end to the room to the other just to catch me because I teased him." Now Ichigo is laughing herself to tears. Then she smashes her nose into her ice cream.

"Oops!" she lets out, looking at her nose. Kisshu stops laughing and looks up to see her nose covered in strawberry ice cream. Kisshu covers his mouth but Ichigo can clearly see him trying to hold in his laughter. She asks, "What?" Then he cracked.

Kisshu turns the other way and slams his hand on to the ground multiple times while laughing like a maniac. Good thing Ichigo is the only one who can see him, or so she thought.

Ichigo has a pulse on her head as she yells, "Shut up, Kisshu! It's not funny!" She reaches for her pocket to take out a napkin and by the time she was going to wipe away the ice cream, Kisshu's hand grasps her. She stops and looks up in surprise of his hand while his golden amber eyes pierce right through hers.

He tells her, "If I was still alive, I would lick that ice cream right off."

Ichigo turns red and tries to look away. She tells him, "Stop kidding around!"

"I'm not, Ichigo."

She looks back at him and he took that chance to make it look like licked the ice cream off her nose. The ice cream is still there but Ichigo felt his tongue on the skin of her nose and her heart pounded hard in her chest. He backs away from her face and his eyes look so sad and lonely. His hand that grasped hers rises up to her face and gently strokes her cheek. She can feel his thumb but no warmth. Then he looks away and pulls his hand back. He sits back down on the bench and looks away. Ichigo couldn't help but feel pity and guilt for his tormented soul. She knows that he loves her and if his feels are real, then not being able to hold her and touch her like he can in the dream world must be torture. In fact, maybe that's the reason why he keeps telling her to take a nap as soon as she comes home.

Ichigo uses her napkin and wipes away the ice cream. She tries not to look at him as she whispers, "Sometimes, I wish that you were still alive too." Kisshu heard her and looks back at her with shocked eyes.

"Why?" he asks, a bit confused.

Now she's steaming red but she looks back at him and her hand reaches for his face. He gasps as he can feel her touch against his skin but her fingers go right through his face. She pulls them back a bit as she tells him, "Because I wish that I can touch you in the real world like I can in my dreams." Then his eyes became tender and gentle. He grasps her hand and Ichigo's heart begins to pound harder and harder in her chest. Then he looks up and behind. He sees no one.

"Kisshu?" she asks, confused.

Then her ears and her tail appear. She was going to move to hide them away but Kisshu quickly tells her, "Don't move." By the time her eyes look back at his face, he's already right in front of her face. Before she could believe it, his eyes closed and his lips press against hers. She blinks in surprise as her heart is pounding even harder now. His other hand rises up arm and rubs it, causing her to drop her ice cream cone. She didn't care. All that mattered was the touch of his lips against hers. Strange though. Before, she could not feel any warmth from his touch but the touch of his lips feel warm and perfect. Everything else didn't matter anymore. The only thing that did is the kiss. She closes her eyes and melts in the kiss. She can do nothing more. She cannot pull him closer or hold him as tightly as she can because she can easily move pass him. All she can do is remain perfectly still as Kisshu sends shivers up and down her spine with a simple kiss.

Masaya stood where he is frozen. Ichigo, the girl he loves and trusts is kissing her enemy and she appears to be enjoying it. He couldn't stand there any longer. He quickly step away and ran for it. However, he stepped on a stick and snapped it. That caused Kisshu to open his eyes and pull away. He looks around the area cautiously as Ichigo slightly opens her eyes, trying to awaken herself from the trance.

She softly asks, "What's wrong?"

He scans the area one more time before answering, "Nothing." Then he looks back at her and smirks. "You let me kiss you, koneko-chan." That snapped her back from her trance and she's blushing red with embarrassment.

Ichigo looks away and crosses her arms in front of her chest. She tells him, "Well I can't do anything can I? I can't push you off and going through you is just too creepy."

Kisshu however, doesn't take that offensive. He has a sweet smile on his face as he hugs her from behind. She looks at him, startled as he tells her, "Thanks for the kiss, koneko-chan. It made me very happy." Her cheeks flare up even more but she tries not to be happy about it.

"Stupid alien!" she mutters. "You took advantage of me."

"No I didn't," he tells her. "I didn't do a thing. You were the one who wanted to continue."

"You used me!!"


	5. Breaking Up

Ch. 4: Breaking Up

"Ichigo, is something wrong?" Moe asks.

Ichigo just skips to her locker and takes off her shoes. She turns to her friends with a wacky smile on her face as she answers, "Nope, nothing at all. I'm perfectly fine." Actually, she's better than fine.

When she went to sleep last night, instead of playing cards both Ichigo and Kisshu played DDR and she creamed him. He got irritated a couple of times when he didn't get the step while Ichigo was flying over the thing. Kisshu was ready to bust the thing open but she stopped him and then laughed. Soon he laughed as well. Her dream actually was a lot like the rest she had in the real world but in her dream world, Kisshu was real and he had his first taste of ice cream. The only difference was that they didn't kiss in the end. Ichigo liked it like that and she had to admit that the dream was really fun.

Moe and Miwa, her friends just stare at each other clueless before Miwa concludes, "Maybe she had a recent date with Aoyama-kun." As soon as she said that name, Ichigo drops her smile and her shoes.

Trying not to cause much of a scene for her friends to notice her discomfort, Ichigo quickly puts her shoes on as Moe nods in agreement. "Must be. I can't think of any other way why she would be so happy."

As Ichigo hits the front part of her shoe to fit her feet in, she thinks, _'Shoots! I've been so stress lately, I forgot about my own boyfriend! How could I?! Ichigo, you stupid idiot!!'_

"Ichigo."

Ichigo tenses up from that as both Miwa and Moe turn around to see Masaya walking towards them. Ichigo turns to him as well and he's smiling at all three of them. Moe and Miwa didn't waste any time to turn back to Ichigo. "See you in class, Ichigo," they both tell her before walking around her.

"Wait…" Ichigo mumbles, slightly reaching for them but they just pass her and now she's alone with her boyfriend.

"Can we talk?"

Ichigo looks back at Masaya after hearing that. She asks, "Uh?"

He still smiles at her as he says, "Only for a minute. There is something I want to ask you."

No matter how pretty his smile looks, Ichigo cannot help but feel dread from his words. But she nods and answers, "Sure."

Masaya apparently already has his shoes on as he walks pass her and she fallows. They go to the roof and now it's only her and him on top of the school building early morning. When Masaya faces her, she asks, "Aoyama-kun, what's wrong?"

His face looks gentle as he tells her, "Ichigo, you know how I feel about you, right?"

Ichigo, still a bit nervous, slightly smiles and tells him, "Yes, Aoyama-kun."

"And if there is something you're hiding from your friends, you can tell me, right?"

Ichigo's smile disappears, now really nervous about this. She tells him, "Of course, but I'm not hiding anything."

"That's a lie," he mutters, his smile gone and his voice dead.

Ichigo shakes her head. She tells him, "I'm not hiding anything, Aoyama-kun."

"That's a lie!!" This time when he yelled, his voice sounded angry and his expression appears to be hurt. Ichigo has no idea what's going on. "You've always kept secrets from me. I had to figure out that you were a mew mew to understand why you were always late or why we have to reschedule. Why are you happy today, Ichigo?"

Before, Ichigo felt hurt from his words. She knows that her hiding things from him have caused her to feel guilty but he doesn't need to rub salt in the wound. She thought he understood why she didn't tell him things. Ichigo looks down, not wanting to look at his face as she answers, "I don't know."

"Well I do," he quickly says. She looks at him with startled eyes and now he looks furious. "You're in love with an alien, aren't you?" Now she's shocked by his words.

But instantly she tells him, "That's not true!"

"Don't lie to me, Momomiya!"

He didn't call her 'Ichigo' like he always did. Now he's calling her by her last name.

"I don't love anyone else, Aoyama-kun!" she tries to tell him again. Ichigo can clearly see Masaya's fists in tight balls and the knuckles are turning white. He's gritting his teeth in anger and his eyes show disbelief in her words. "I love you. I've always have." Then she takes steps towards him. Her hand reaches for him, pleading, "Please believe me."

_Slap_

Stabbing a sword to Ichigo's heart, Masaya slaps her hand away from him. Her eyes are wide and her throat is frozen. He doesn't even look at her as he says, "I wish I could. It's over." Her heart stops beating and her mind goes blank. Masaya turns around and walks away, back through the door and down the stairs to class. He leaves the door open but Ichigo doesn't take a step towards it.

His words repeat again and again in her head. Masaya broke up with her…just because she's hiding the fact that Kisshu is still in this world as a ghost? Her legs go weak as she collapses to the floor and her eyes are already overwhelmed with tears. Sitting there, she starts sobbing.

_Ring_

_Ring_

The school bell is ringing but Ichigo can care less. She doesn't want to go to class. She just wants to stay where she is and cry. Cry until her heart turns to stone, cry until her voice is dry and scratchy, and cry until her eyes ball out. It didn't take long until Ichigo ends up crying herself to sleep.

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_Sob_

_Sob_

_Sob_

Ichigo is lying on the grassy floor and she's still crying. Even in her dreams, her tears do not take a holiday. The sky over her is overcastted, the sun hides well from the many layers of clouds, the air is cold, and the trees and plants look sad and gloomy all around her. The softness of the grass and the smell of fresh air no longer hold any comfort for her or her broken heart.

It didn't take long until she felt like she wasn't alone. She feels the familiar hand of Kisshu pet her head and she can feel his breath by her ear as he calls, "Koneko-chan?" Hearing his voice quiets down her sobs but not in a comforting way. "What's wrong? Why is my little kitty crying?"

Before he knew it, Ichigo suddenly pushes herself up and he backs away before her head hit his. In the dream world, he can be touched and he can be harmed.

"It's your fault! Everything is your fault!!" she screams, her eyes angry and her voice like poisonous venom.

Kisshu looks confused and a bit stung by her words. "What?"

She answers, "If you didn't die for me, then none of these things would have happened! Want to know why I'm always so stressed out?! It's because I've been keeping the secret that you're still around from everyone I care about, I've been avoiding my friends because they were so irritating about if I was still depressed about your death, and I was just dumped by the only boy I will ever love because he thought I was in love with someone else. I'm not, Kisshu!! I love Masaya and him alone! I won't ever love you! There is nothing between you and me! NOTHING!!"

Now Kisshu looks hurt by her words, like how she was hurt from Masaya's words. Her words were like daggers stabbing him multiple times. His eyes are in pain and they're wide as his bottom lip quiver. He gulps and tries to gain back his composure as his hand tries to reach for her face.

"Koneko-chan, I..."

But Ichigo slaps his hand away before slapping his face. His eyes are wider and to him, everything was destroyed.

"I hate you, Kisshu! And I want you to leave me the hell alone!!" she screams. "When you die, you're supposed to be dead! Gone, forever!! Why can't you just leave me alone?!" Then she starts crying again. Her hands cover her eyes as she continues to sob.

Kisshu looks from the side in the direction he was slapped towards and back at Ichigo. Those words stung but nothing hurts more than seeing her tears. Every tear she shed was like a big piece of his heart dropping into the abyss, never stopping as it falls into the darkness. He touches his red cheek and it stings but compared to how his chest feels, it's nothing. His eyes look down at the ground and he says three words. "Fine, I'll leave."

Ichigo stops crying and her eyes widen in shock. She gasps as she can feel his head leaning close to hers, not touching hers but close enough to feel him.

"If you ever need me, you know how to call. Good-bye, Ichigo."

Her head snaps up but she doesn't see him. She doesn't see anything. The trees, the sky, and the grass have all disappeared. There is nothing but darkness where ever she looks. She's all alone. Alone in this dark abyss with nothing but sorrow and fear to control her.

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Ichigo's eyes snap open and she gasps. Her brow is cold from the wind and sweat from her dream and her heart is pounding really fast and really hard like she just ran a 100 meter dash. She lifts herself up and looks around at her surroundings. She's still on the roof of the school and the sun is directly over her. She's been on the roof for hours. Her body is filled with sores for lying on the hard ground for so long but she doesn't care as she lifts herself up in a standing position.

"Kisshu!! Where are you?! Come out!!" she yells, calling for him. But nothing. No one appears and no one answers. Her nightmare has now become reality. "KISSHU!!!!"


	6. Loneliness

Ch. 6: Loneliness

Ichigo's running. That's all she's doing. Running.

She's running through endless buildings of Tokyo. Building of all shapes and sizes and color pass by her in a blur as she's going as fast as her legs can push her. She's in her Mew Mew form, that's one thing she notices. But no matter how fast her cat speed is, she's unable to reach her destination. She's searching for something. Something in the city and she desperately needs to find it before it's too late.

Her lungs burn for air, her mouth and throat are dry from panting, her legs aching for rest, her heart pounding from her anxiety, and her head feeling dizzy. She did not care. Her mind is focus on finding something but no matter how far she runs or how fast, she can't find it. That is until she sees a familiar abandoned building at the corner of her eyes.

Mew Ichigo stops running and stares at the abandoned building. Why does it look so familiar and why does her heart ache from the sight of it? There are bars of wood nailed to the windows, the paint is peeling off the building, and there are holes the size of doors on the walls. One hole looks very welcoming to Mew Ichigo. She walks towards the wall and peeks inside. Nothing but dust flying in the air and the scent of mildew as she steps in. The light from the outside pierce in from the small spaces of the nailed windows and Mew Ichigo sees desks, old computers, and broken pillars that were once decorations to the room and it's support.

Suddenly her hands feel wet.

Ichigo looks at her gloved hands and she sees a color different than her maroon collar gloves; blood red. Ichigo gasps in horror and her eyes become as wide as entrée plates as she sees the blood on her hands. How strange. There is blood but she is not hurt. When she stares at her hands, she sees something pass them.

Mew Ichigo lowers her hands to start at the thing and she becomes instantly horrified. There, she sees Kisshu's dead, bleeding corpse with a broken pipe sticking out from his chest and a puddle of blood under him. That's not blood on her hands, that's his.

Memories of him saving her from when she was tossed at the abandoned building. If he wasn't there to save her when he did, that pipe would have hit her and that would be her in that puddle of blood instead of him. He died for her. He gave up his life so that she could live another day. He lost everything for her…and look what she said to him.

Mew Ichigo screams.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

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"Kisshu!!"

Ichigo sits in her bed, her hand reaching for nothing and sweat pouring down the side of her face. Her eyes are wide with fright, her heart pounding fast and hard in her chest still yet, her chest rising up and down, and her mouth slightly open for her to pant. She drops her hand and looks around her surroundings.

Ichigo is in her bed, in her room in the middle of the night. Her alarm clock says that it's three in the morning. Funny, she was unable to sleep until midnight and she only got three hours of sleep. That dream felt a lot longer.

It's almost been two weeks since her break up with Masaya and she's been having that dream every night. She keeps seeing the place of Kisshu's death over and over, sometimes how it happened, and she always sees his body and blood in the end. Before, she thought it was his idea of a joke for what she said to him but she had to admit that he would never be this harsh to her. Because each time that she sees his body, the scarier and horrifying it becomes.

Remembering her dream, Ichigo doesn't look scared anymore. Her face crunches up in sorrow and regret as she brings her knees close to her chest. She hugs her knees and leans on them. It didn't take long until she was crying again.

"Kisshu…" she mumbles. She mumbles that name again and again, her tears unstoppable.

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It's the next day, early evening and Ichigo is at Café Mew Mew, cleaning. She's in her work uniform and she's sweeping the floors at a corner, far from where her friends are gathered around, staring at her. Lettuce and Zakuro are standing as Mint is sitting at a table drinking tea and Pudding is sitting on the table.

Lettuce notes, "Ichigo-san looks worst than she did before her vacation."

"What's wrong, na no da," Pudding asks, looking at her sisters. "Why is Ichigo onee-chan always so sad?"

Zakuro notes, "Even at work, she hardly said a word." Yeah, she should know. Zakuro barely says anything when she's working and she thinks that that is enough. For Ichigo to say few words than her is defiently strange.

Mint puts down her cup of tea down and she says, "I think it's about time we have a little talk with her. Something we should have done the moment she started acting funny."

Ichigo lets out another sigh as she's sweeping the same area for the hundredth time, before she felt arms grab hers. Before she knew it, she's being pulled back by her friends and she's quickly seated down on a seat. They took her broom away and now her friends are circling around her like she's in an interrogation room. She looks at her friends, startled and surprise as she asks, "Uh, guys. What's going on?"

Mint tells her sternly, "Ichigo, we need to talk! It's about your attitude."

Lettuce pleads, "Ichigo-san, if there is something troubling you, please tell us. We're your friends and we're worried about you."

Ichigo looks down at the ground in shame as she answers, "There is nothing troubling me. I'm perfectly fine."

Pudding declares, "That's a lie, na no da! Ichigo onee-chan is hiding something." Unfortunately for Ichigo, everyone believes Pudding.

Ichigo looks a bit angry as she tells them, "I said there is nothing troubling me."

"Ichigo," Mint calls harshly. "I am getting sick and tired of this crappy attitude of yours! Everyone here knows that something is troubling you and we want to help you. But how are we suppose to help when you won't open up to us?"

Ichigo suddenly stands up, causing her friends to stand back as she yells, "I said that there is nothing wrong!! Why can't you guys just leave me alone?! It's all so irritating that all of you keep bugging me about it!!"

_Slap_

Pudding and Lettuce gasp in Mint's actions. Zakuro just watches with her arms crossed in front of her chest as Ichigo looks surprised and stung by Mint's slap. "Get a grip on yourself, Ichigo!" Mint yells. Ichigo touches her cheek as Mint asks, "Do you even hear yourself? You don't sound like the Ichigo we all know. We just want to know one thing! Are you upset because Kisshu died?"

Right there and then, Ichigo remembers her dream – the running, the smell of mildew, the blood on her hands that's not hers, and Kisshu's corpse lying on the ground, taking the pipe that was meant for her. It didn't take long until Ichigo starts crying. Now all four of her friends are surprised as Ichigo covers her eyes so that they don't see her tears and she falls back to the chair. She takes a few minutes to sob. Hearing her, Ryou and Keiichiro come out of the kitchen and they see Ichigo and the other mews surrounding her.

"He's gone!" she screams, her voice already pitchy from crying. "He's gone and he's never coming back. No matter how many times I call for him, he doesn't come. It's my fault. It's all my fault." She starts sobbing some more and now her friends are starting to look pitied for their friend's sorrow. "I'm lonely," she mumbles. "Everything is so sad and lonely without him. I'm lonely…I'm lonely."

Then all of them hear an alarm they haven't heard in a long time from Ichigo's cell phone key chain.

"Alien alert!! Alien alert!!"


	7. Alien Attack

Ch. 7: Alien Attack

The Mew Mews are running through the town and pass confused people of Tokyo. Shortly after Masha gave out the alarm that there is an alien attack, they were ordered by Ryou to go. Some of the Mew Mews suggest to Ichigo that she could stay if she can't fight but she told them that she wants to. After all, hearing that there is an alien attack is sort of a relief. It relieves a bit of the troubles on her mind but the main one still remains troubling her mind and heart. She ran with her team to the direction Masha is flying towards.

As they're running, the people are looking at them confused. There is a group of girls of all ages that is chasing after a flying pink robot. Anyone would stare. When they were running in the middle of Tokyo…

_Boom_

All five of them went flying through the air.

"AAAHHH!!" some of them scream, as they land on the hard gravel floor. Then soon, the people around them start screaming when they look up at what attacked those five girls. They start running away as the girls begin to push themselves off the ground.

"Are you the mew mews?"

All five of them gasp in surprise. They don't know that voice as they hear Pai answer, "Yes, Flamiche."

The girls look up and they see Pai and Taruto and a new alien who's looking down at them with glaring eyes. From the looks of it, he's a male and he looks even older than Pai by maybe three or four years. He's taller than Pai as well. His pants and shoes look like Pai's but the pants are dark grey with black trimmings. His shoes are also black and he has white bandages wrapped around his feet. There are white bandages that cover his waist and a black vest that is connected at the top and it's a turtle neck, almost like Taruto's top but without the ribbon. He also has dark grey bandages that only wrap around his wrists. He has neon green layered hair that's three inches longer than his shoulders. It's in two low pony tails and it's tied by neon red bandages. The one thing that surprises Ichigo the most is his eyes. He has the same amber golden eyes as Kisshu. The only difference is that he's angry.

Mint didn't waste any time standing up and yelling, "We have to transform!!" The others begin to stand up and they nod. But when Ichigo stands up, she still stares at the third alien she thinks is called Flamiche.

"Mew Mew Mint Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Mew Lettuce Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Mew Pudding Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Mew Zakuro Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Mew Strawberry Metamorphosis!!"

The girls transform into their Mew Mew self, ready to fight and the moment that Flamiche looks at Ichigo, his eyes widen in hate. Before she knew it, Flamiche is suddenly right in front of her. He's right at her face and before she could progress it, he hits her.

"Aaahh!" she screams, flying over her friends and on the cement ground of the road.

"Ichigo!!" her friends scream.

But she pushes herself up as Flamiche orders, "Tell me, are you the one?" Ichigo looks up at the alien in confusion as the other mews look at her in surprise. He asks again but harsher, "Are you the one who murdered Kisshu?!"

Ichigo's eyes widen from the name. He stares, watching her as she pushes herself up from the ground into a standing position. Her legs are a bit weak from the impact of his hit and the ground as she asks, "How do you know Kisshu?"

He didn't answer her question. Instead, Flamiche takes her question as the answer to his – yes.

Flamiche raises his arm and faces his palm at her. A giant blast appears and is shot at Ichigo before she could even react from his action. Quickly, Ichigo tries to jump away from his attack. She does but suddenly, he's right in front of her again. He tries to hit her, but she got prepared and dodges it. He still tries to attack her. The other mews can already tell that this alien must be blind by rage and if they don't stop him, he will kill Ichigo.

"We have to help her, na no da!" Pudding announced.

"No you won't!"

The mews look up and they see Taruto and Pai accompanied by kirema animas. They must have created them when the mews were being distracted by Flamiche. Taruto points to the girls and yells, "Go, kirema anima!!" The kirema animas attack the girls but they try to dodge the attack by jumping high in the air.

Lettuce, quickly looks at Pai and pleads, "Please, let us help our friend! That alien will kill Ichigo from a misunderstanding!"

But Pai coldly answers, "That alien has business to take care of with that mew. It's her fault that he no longer has any family left." Lettuce's eyes widen at that but Pai points his fan at her and yell, "Fu Shi Sen!!" His lighting aims for her and she gets hit. She goes flying as she screams in pain. For one moment, Pai's face crunches up in pain but that was erased before anyone saw it.

Ichigo's back hits the building and she slides to the ground in terrible pain. She's getting beaten, bad. She's already dirtied from being trashed around so much and the attacks that did hit her. Now she can hardly move because of her aching muscles and weakened bones. Ichigo tries to lift herself up, but her muscles scream in pain and tears are already stinging her eyes. She looks up at Flamiche and he's standing there, glaring.

'_This guy…'_ she thinks, _'is not holding back. He's stronger than the others.'_

Flamiche raises his hand and faces his palm at her. She starts to fear for the worst as he tells her, "This is good bye. Go to hell." Then he creates a huge blast that's about the size of him and he launches it at her. The blast is coming at Ichigo at full speed.

'_Is this the end?'_ she wonders, as its coming closer and closer with each second. Then Ichigo does the only thing she can do; scream. But she screams out a name.

"KISSHU!!!!"

Flamiche's eyes widen in surprise as then another weird thing happens.

_Block_

A barrier suddenly appears in front of Ichigo and stops the blast from hitting her. Because of the impact of the blast hitting the barrier, it causes an explosion and dust to fly everywhere. Ichigo covers her eyes to protect them as she feels the wind blowing through her outfit and her hair as the fighting stops to turn around and stare at the scene. Flamiche is still surprise.

When the blast disappears, Flamiche's eyes widen in shock. There in front of Mew Ichigo is someone he thought he was never going to see alive again. He sees Kisshu standing before Ichigo, glaring at him protectively. Like how Ichigo used to see him, Kisshu doesn't appear to be 'whole'. He looks transparent and his semi-whole self was only for a moment for Flamiche to see. The moment later, Kisshu's body begins to disappear like he was mirage. But Flamiche saw him, there's no denying that.

Ichigo lowers her hands and looks up to see Flamiche's shocked self. She becomes a bit startled and surprised by his reaction as he takes a few steps back. What surprised him, is what she wanted to know.

Then he mumbles, "Kisshu? My little brother…" He mumbled that so softly that Ichigo was only able to pick up what his lips were telling her. What he said causes Ichigo's eyes to widen to the point that her eye balls could have rolled out.

'_Hold on!'_ she thinks. _'Did he just say little brother?! And did he just…see him?!'_

Flamiche looks at the ground for a moment before ordering in a louder tone, "We're leaving." Both Pai and Taruto look surprise from that.

"But Flamiche…" Taruto started.

But Flamiche looks up at them and his eyes look really deadly. He yells, "We're leaving!!" Both Pai and Taruto flinch from that as Flamiche begins to teleport back to the ship. Both Pai and Taruto look at each other before fallowing him, leaving the kirema animas with the girls.

Trying to forget that weird event, Mint yells, "Ichigo!! We need your help!"

Ichigo looks up at her friends and nods. That's right, she's a mew mew that needs to stop those kirema animas. But as she summons her weapon again and runs up to help the others, Flamiche stays in her mind and his words.

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_Boom_

Both Pai and Taruto go flying to the ground from the impact of the blast and they land, rolling. Flamiche looks angry as he glares at both of them with gritting teeth while they try to lift themselves up from the impact.

"You lied to me!" Flamiche screams. "You told me that Kisshu is dead!"

Taruto yells back, "He is! We saw it!"

Pai lifts himself up to his knees as he tells Flamiche, "He died for that Mew Mew. We showed you the recording of what happened." Flamiche didn't say anything right away. He looks like he's debating but he still appears upset.

Finally he says, "I wish to see it again."

Pai and Taruto look at each other again, before Pai nods in agreement. He lifts himself up into a standing position and walks over to the computers. Taruto pushes himself up as well and remains where he is as Flamiche walks closer to Pai. A big screen appears and the recording of the battle begins.

"_This is mine! You can't have her!!"_ the recording Kisshu screams while holding Mew Ichigo from behind. As soon as he saw him, Flamiche's face becomes tragic at the sight of his little brother.

The recording Mew Ichigo appears surprise by his sudden appearance and yells out in surprise, _"Kisshu?!"_

Looking away from the Blue Knight, Kisshu grins at Ichigo's surprise face and tells her, _"Today, you will be mine." _Without hesitation, he kisses her cheek and Ichigo turns red from the touch of his lips against hers. Flamiche didn't understand it when he sees the kiss. How could his little brother kiss the enemy or even thought of the idea of kissing one?

She screams, "_No! Get off!"_ and the fight continues on after Taruto scolds Kisshu for his inappropriate loving behavior. Kisshu goes back to fighting the Blue Knight as Mew Ichigo goes back to fighting alongside her friends.

From seeing this fight, Flamiche can see a lot that has happened over the time his brother was on this mission. Obviously, his brother took an interest with the enemy when he should have been trying to kill her and because of his feelings, he made the Blue Knight his rival. Flamiche observed that the Blue Knight comes when ever Ichigo is in most need of help but he didn't come today.

Then the video came to the part that Flamiche will always dread. While Kisshu was fighting the Blue Knight, Mew Ichigo got captured by the kirema anima and was raised up in the air. Her screaming stopped Kisshu's and the Blue Knight's fight and both of them look at her as the kirema anima tosses her to the abandoned building. The Blue Knight tried to run to save her but Kisshu got to her faster by teleporting in between the falling Ichigo and the building. Mew Ichigo crashes into him with great impact and both of them crash through the windows and into the building.

Taruto screamed, _"Kisshu!!"_ Right after both Ichigo and Kisshu disappeared into the building.

Then the scene changes from outside of the building to the inside. Flamiche, Pai, and Taruto watch as they see Kisshu's tight hold around Ichigo as they crash into the ground and roll. The pipe was already sticking out from the pillar and Kisshu's back hits it full force. He gasps in surprise of the pain and blood gushes out from his mouth. Taruto looks away immediately right before Kisshu hit that pipe and Pai looks away when he sees the blood gushing out from his comrade's mouth as Flamiche grips his fists into tight balls. They hear Kisshu then wince to try and bear with the pain. When he looks down, he sees the pipe through his chest and the blood starting to pour out of it. Shortly after that, he hears Ichigo wincing in the small pain of the pipe hitting her back. When Kisshu looks back at her, he didn't look angry. Instead he looks relieved and a bit happy. That was when Flamiche looks away.

Flamiche orders, "Stop it. I had enough." Pai didn't argue to stop it. He wanted that recording to stop since the beginning. Then he asks, "By chance, do the Mew Mews know how to create barriers like my brother?"

Taruto and Pai look at him in confusion but Taruto answers, "They can create barriers but they have their own way of creating it."

"Then how the hell did that barrier come out of nowhere and protected that mew?!" Flamiche asks, angry now. Taruto stays quiet, hushed by Flamiche's tone. Flamiche looks at him, waiting for an answer but Taruto looks at Pai for help.

But all Pai answers is, "We don't know."


	8. Depression and Agony

Ch. 8: Depression and Agony

It's the next day, it's cleaning time, and Ichigo is doing the same thing as yesterday – sweeping at the same corner for the forty-fifth time. Her friends are once again having a little meeting about her behavior around Mint's drinking table.

After the appearance of the new alien Flamiche, Ryou and Keiichiro told the girls that they will study this new foe. Obviously, he's stronger than the others and is really angry. They were able to get some footage about him through Masha who recorded the whole thing and they were able to pick up what he said after the mysterious barrier appeared in front of Ichigo. The girls were shocked to hear that Flamiche is Kisshu's older brother. That cleared up half of the confusion of why he wanted to kill only Ichigo and why he appears so angry since this is the first time that they met him and the only thing they did wrong was delay their mission in killing all humans. But the other half of the confusion is, why did he look like he saw a ghost? While the other girls were shocked, Ichigo looked guilty. She didn't even sleep last night because Flamiche's shocked face was keeping her mind occupied, that and the barrier that suddenly popped out of nowhere. If the cause of Flamiche's shocked face is the results of Kisshu appearing again, then how come Ichigo didn't see him? Or why didn't he stay long enough for her to see him? Her conclusion – he's still upset about what she said to him. But then, why did he protect her?

Pudding notes, "Ichigo onee-chan is worst than yesterday, isn't she na no da?"

Zakuro points out, "She's pale, there are dark shadows under her eyes, she walks around like the undead, and she got the orders mixed up all day."

"Uh," Lettuce starts, "Do you believe it might be because of the new alien?"

Pudding asks, "You mean like a new love interest, na no da?!"

"Pudding-san, you know what I mean," Lettuce corrects. "I mean about why he's here." Pudding was only trying to brighten the mood but obviously, no one feels up to a joke. Pudding looks back at her 'onee-chan' in pity as she can imagine what Ichigo is feeling. Then Mint stands up again.

Noticing her, Zakuro cautiously calls, "Mint."

"Don't worry, onee-sama," Mint tells her. "I just want to talk to her." Mint walks away from her chair and the others stand where they are to watch as they see Mint going up to the dozing off Ichigo. She places her hand on Ichigo's shoulder and turns her around. Ichigo looks at her a bit startled from that but also really tired. "Ichigo, what is your problem? I mean seriously!"

But Ichigo looks at her with droopy eyes as she answers, "There is nothing wrong. I just haven't gotten a lot of sleep." After that, she yawns to prove her point.

Mint lets out a sigh and tells her, "Look, I'm sorry for slapping you yesterday." Ichigo looks at her as Mint continues but with red on her face in embarrassment. "But your attitude has been really annoying. I speak for all of us that we're sorry for being irritating but we're all worried about you and you won't tell us what's wrong. You suddenly blew off at Ryou, you didn't come to work for days, you didn't care about your pay check, and when you finally come back out of the blue, you acted like someone beat up your dog. Now you're upset as if you mom just died!"

Ichigo puts the broom against the wall as she tells her, "I've just been under a lot of stress lately."

"Does it have anything to do with Kisshu's death?" Ichigo looks back at Mint in surprise as Mint continues to stare at her with accusing eyes. "You didn't exactly answer that question yesterday."

Ichigo looks a bit sad as she faces the ground. "Mostly yes. Anyone would be stressed out if someone who has been trying to kill you for so long suddenly ricks their life to save your own. What I don't understand is that if he claims to love me, then why did he leave? That question gave me a lot of stress. I just yelled at him because I was angry and he just leaves. Why?"

"You yelled at him?" Mint asks, really confused. "But he died nearly three weeks ago." Ichigo didn't say anything. She continues to face the ground as the others wait for her explanation. But she just turns to the door and walks towards it, slowly. Mint calls, "Ichigo! Where are you going?"

Ichigo stops at the door and turns around to her friends. "I just need some air to clear my mind. When I come back, I tell you everything. I promise." After that, she opens the door and steps out, closing the door behind her. Her friends allow her to go, after seeing that weak and pleading look on her face.

During her walk, Ichigo appears to be in deep thought again. The sun is setting now, brightening the sky with red and orange lights. Like a fire blazing through the sky across the city. Ichigo didn't pay to the sky though.

'_That barrier…'_ she drifts off wondering. The memory of how Flamiche's blast was stopped still clouds her mind. _'It appeared out of nowhere and saved me. I can make barriers easily with my Strawberry Bell but I didn't have that until after the aliens left. Not to forget that the look on Flamiche's face is really confusing. He looked like he saw a ghost.'_

As soon as the word 'ghost' stops Ichigo from walking. She stands there in the middle of the walking trail as she mumbles, "Kisshu…"

'_I wish you were still here,'_ she thinks. _'I'll say I'm sorry a million times if it will bring you back. I just…I really need someone to talk to without discomfort. But you're…gone, aren't you?'_

"_**If you ever need me, you know how to call. Good-bye, Ichigo."**_

Ichigo gasps in surprise and her eyes widen in realization. Instantly she slaps herself. _'Idiot!! Ichigo, you're such an idiot!!'_ she thinks, getting all frustrated. _'How could I have forgotten how to call him?! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!!'_

Ichigo lets out a deep sigh to calm herself down as she mumbles, "Okay, let's try it." _'Please come back,'_ she thinks, pleading. She closes her eyes and tries to think of a song to sing or maybe the chant that she used to use. She choses the one and prays that it will bring him back to her. But before she started, she hears something.

"Taking a walk by yourself when you know that someone is out there wanting your head?"

Ichigo gasps and turns around. She sees Flamiche leaning on a tree not too far from her. From the look on his face, it appears that his feelings for her haven't change since the last time they met. He still wants to kill her. He stands up straight and takes small steps towards her. "A strange but reckless act. I will never understand you humans."

Ichigo takes a step back in case as she asks, "Wh-why are you here?" His familiar color of golden amber analyzes her from head to toe and Ichigo feels like she's being peeped on, like a pervert looking through a window to see her naked.

"There _is_ something I'm trying to understand," he finally answers, as simple as that. He stops walking and stands before her about two feet away.

Ichigo looks up at him and asks, "Understand what?" But instead of an answer of words, she gets hit. His fist hits her stomach and she gags out in pain before she goes flying through the air. She lands on the ground and rolls for a couple of feet from the impact. Flamiche just watches as Ichigo tries to get up but the attack really weakened her. She holds her stomach in pain and her eyes are already leaking with tears. She then vomits on the ground since it was a hit to her stomach as Flamiche then decides to walk closer to her.

Ichigo tries to breath and deal with the pain as Flamiche is right next to her. He kneels down to her level and asks, "What's so special about you that my little brother would get distracted from his mission and cause him give up his life for you?"

Ichigo looks up at him and her chocolate eyes meet his cold, debating eyes. He's trying to find that answer from her looks. Sure she's cute but nothing really special he can see. But looks can be very deceiving. Instead of answering his question, Ichigo weakly asks, "Were you and Kisshu…close?" That time, Flamiche's amber golden eyes widen in surprise of the question. He suddenly gets up and turns around to walk away. He didn't go far as Ichigo keeps her eyes on him. Did her question hit a sensitive spot for him?

He answers, "We weren't, but I wanted to." Ichigo's face turns to pity as she hears him swear, "Damn it all! This wasn't even his mission to begin with. It was mine! If I hadn't stepped down, if I haven't let him take this mission, he would still be alive." Ichigo didn't pay attention to the details. All she sees is an older brother moaning over the loss of a family member; his little brother and the last member of his family no less.

Ichigo pushes herself up and walks towards him. Without fear, she places her hand on his shoulder gently and he gasps in surprise of her touch. He turns around to look at her and he sees caring, apologetic eyes. "There was no way for you to have known that your brother would have died. Just as I didn't predict of becoming a super hero and meeting him to only realize how big of a heart he has." He continues to stare at her and she waits for him to say anything. However, he can say nothing. Right now, Flamiche is actually seeing why his brother liked her so much.

"Momomiya?!"


	9. Deep Blue

Ch. 9: Deep Blue

Hearing her name being called, both Flamiche and Ichigo turn to the side where the trees are and they see Masaya – leaning on the tree for support, he's sweating, panting, and is holding his chest in pain. Both Flamiche and Ichigo are surprise to see them but Ichigo is a bit worried by Masaya's strange condition.

Masaya pants a few times before asking her in a horsy voice, "With another one already?"

Ichigo ignores that question as she passes Flamiche and approaches Masaya. She asks, "Why are you here, Masaya?"

But he yells, "Shut up and answer the damn question!" Ichigo flinches in surprise of his language as now he looks like he's in more pain. Flamiche watches in confusion as Ichigo gains back her courage to walk closer to him as he slides down the tree to his knees.

"Masaya," she calls, reaching for him.

When he looks at her, he looks really angry and his eyes change color. They change from the warm bark brown that Ichigo knew so well to unfamiliar icy blue. He tells her, "Don't touch me!!" Then he hits her like he's slapping her hand away but it was different than a simple slap. That hit causes Ichigo to go flying through the air. Masaya didn't seem to care as Ichigo lands on the ground and rolls before coming to a complete stop. She winces in pain of the hit and the feel of the hard ground hitting her body.

Flamiche's eyes are really wide now from what was played in front of him. He watched Ichigo go flying through the air and didn't move to help her. Then he feels something. He wonders, _'What's this? This pressure…'_ His whole body freezes from the strong pressure he can feel. He actually had a hard time trying to turn to look at where the pressure is coming from; Masaya.

Ichigo looks up at Masaya as well and right before both of their eyes, they see Masaya's form changing. He was still wincing in pain and it seems to get worst as his form was changing from his human form to the Blue Knight's form. Ichigo and Flamiche are surprise to see this form.

Ichigo's voice is soft as she asks, "Masaya…is the Blue Knight?"

Shortly after the Blue Knight's form was shown, it goes back to Masaya. Then back to the Blue Knight. Now it makes sense on who the Blue Knight was. He wanted to protect Ichigo and that time, Masaya was still in love with Ichigo but after the break up, it explains why he didn't show up when Flamiche first appeared.

Then Masaya begins to scream when he was in his Blue Knight form. His cries shot out to the sky and his body begins to glow light blue, almost white. Then another weird thing happens. Both Ichigo and Flamiche see lights shooting out from the corner of their eyes. They look and they see colorful lights from different, far areas shot out into the sky. Neither of them understood it as those light aim for Masaya.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

_Alarm_

_Alarm_

Keiichiro's fingers fly over the keyboard at top speed. Ryou comes crashing through the door as he asks, "Keiichiro, what's going on?!" Shortly after him, the other Mew Mews come running in.

Keiichiro answers, "There is a high energy reading not too far from here."

Ryou turns to the girls and he was going to say something but all he can see is four heads and not one red hair head. He asks, "Where's Ichigo?!"

Lettuce answers, "She's on a walk."

Ryou looks to the side and curses, "Damn that girl!"

"Wait!" Zakuro calls. They look at her as she asks, "Is Ichigo near the signal?"

"Let me check," he answers before returning to the computers. He presses more keyboards and then gasps in surprise from the results. "She's right on top of the signal!" The girls got worried real fast. For all they know, Flamiche is where Ichigo is and is probably killing her right now.

Ryou commands, "Ichigo might need your help! You girls go to her now!" All of them nod before turning around back to the stairs to get back to the café level. Ryou turns back to Keiichiro and asks, "Can we find out more information about the signal?"

Keiichiro answers, "I will try." Then his fingers press every key on the keyboard at lightning speed. Ryou grips his fists together and think one thing.

'_Ichigo, you better be alright.'_

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Finally the lights finally cleared but a gust of wind hits both Flamiche and Ichigo. They cover themselves from the wind until it died down. There was a cloud of mist flouting around where Masaya was. They stare at the cloud of mist and a black figure stands up. Being closer, Flamiche sees the figure and gasps in surprise of who it is. Ichigo stands up and stares at the figure. From what she can see, the figure has the same attire as the Blue Knight but longer hair length. She can't get a good look at the figure but she can make out the figure. As the mist disappears, it becomes easier and easier to see.

Ichigo wonders, _'Masa…ya?'_

Flamiche however breathes out, "Deep Blue-sama!" Ichigo heard him and her eyes widen even more when she looks at him.

"Deep Blue?" she asks, out load. Kisshu's voice rings through her head.

"_**We have a leader. His name is Deep Blue. He called from us from our distant planet and asked for our help. He apparently was stuck here through DNA I believe. However, we don't know what sorry human has his DNA. All I knew was that he was really starting to irritate me. Do this, do that! Sometimes I wondered if he could even help us. Guess I'll probably never know. I'm dead."**_

Ichigo looks back at the figure and now the mist is gone. Standing in Masaya's place is an alien. An alien with the same form and clothes as the Blue Knight but longer hair as Ichigo noticed from before. Like the Blue Knight, he has pale white skin or maybe even paler. His eyes are lighter like ice and his hair is jet black, like the dark shadows lurking in the corner of your bedroom late at night. Deep Blue looks at her and she gasps when his eyes pierce into hers. They send awful chills down her spin and she feels really, really scared.

"Mew Ichigo," he calls, his voice causing Ichigo's heart to beat faster and faster in fear. He lowers his upper body like a bow as he tells her, "Thank you." Both Flamiche and her are confused as he stands up straight. He explains, "If Masaya wasn't filled with anger, jealousy, and hatred, then I wouldn't have been able to come out now. I have you to thank for that but I will not spare you when the planet is annihilated. I am Deep Blue. I will become the ruler of this planet." Now Ichigo is really shocked. However, instead of feeling heartbroken like she ought to be, she takes this situation as a deep case of disbelief.

After Deep Blue did his greeting, he turns to the side where Flamiche is. The instant that Flamiche sees his eyes, he suddenly remembers that he is in the presence of his lord. He gets on his knees and bows. "Deep Blue-sama, at last you have shown us your natural form."

Then both Pai and Taruto appear through teleportation behind Flamiche. They look at him as Taruto yells, "Flamiche! What was that energy just now?!" Then they feel a cold chill down their spins. They look up and they see Deep Blue. His icy eyes stare at them. Their whole bodies flinch in surprise of his presences.

Flamiche orders in a husher tone, "Welcome your lord for he has finally awaken!" They look at him, surprised. Quickly they both bow to their lord on their knees.

Taruto tries to say, "I…well, umn…We've been waiting for you to wake up for a long time." Anyone can tell that he's terrified with his lord before him.

"We are deeply honored and grateful to see you at long last," Pai tells him, a bit calmer than Taruto but he does sound a bit uncomfortable with his lord's sudden appearance.

Deep Blue ignores their flaws and nods in their direction. Then he suddenly looks at Ichigo and raises his hand. His palm faces her and she only had little time to realize that he's paying attention to her before Deep Blue sends a blast at her. The blast aims at her at full speed but it hits the ground she's standing on. The aliens look at her in surprise of the sudden attack as she goes flying through the air.

"AAAAHHHH!!" she screams.

But instead of landing on the hard ground again, she feels strong arms catching her. Ichigo opens her eyes and looks up to see that she's in the arms of Mew Zakuro. They both land on the ground safely and she puts her down.

Ichigo tells her, "Zakuro, thank you."

"Ichigo!!"

Ichigo turns around and her friends, already transformed, runs up in front of her. She looks at them in surprise as they get in position to protect her. The other aliens stood up and they get ready to fight.

Pudding asks, "Who is that, na no da?!"

Lettuce mutters, "He's a bit scary."

"Whoever he is, he tried to hurt our friend," Mint yells. "He will not be forgiven!"

"No, don't!" Ichigo screams. Her friends look at her in confusion as she tells them, "Please don't hurt him! That's Masaya!"

Now her friends are surprise. "What?!" they asks.

But Flamiche tells her, "The human you know as Masaya no longer exists." They look at him as get explains. "Deep Blue-sama, the Blue Knight, and Masaya are one. The human and your protector were parts of Deep Blue-sama."

Zakuro asks, "Parts?"

"Correct," he answers. "Deep Blue-sama's DNA lived inside the human's for centuries and his spirit lived inside that DNA. When he tried to wake up, there was no medium for him to awaken. Until now only the closest to human of Deep Blue-sama's three spiritual body parts, Masaya and the Blue Knight, have appeared. Meanwhile, Deep Blue-sama's true spirit existed in an alternate dimension and called us here from our far off home planet. But now Deep Blue-sama has awakened. Now the other two spirits are no longer useful to Deep Blue and have been erased forever."

The Mew Mews are shocked beyond belief to hear that as Ichigo can hardly breathe. She heard these words before from Kisshu and as she hears these words again, they hurt like acid on an opened burning wound.

"No way," Ichigo mumbles before her legs gave out. She falls to the ground and her whole body is shaking with disbelief. Her friends turn to her in concern as she looks like she will crack. "Why?" she asks. "Why, Masaya? Why?"

"Because he hated you."

All but Ichigo's eyes turn to Deep Blue while her eyes only widen. Deep Blue adds, "You were a very naughty kitty, weren't you Mew Ichigo? Keeping secrets from the one person you swore never to hide anything ever again."

Mint asks, "What do you mean keeping secrets? Ichigo never hid anything from Masaya!"

Deep Blue slightly smirks as he notes, "How very interesting. You even hid things from your friends." Ichigo looks up at him with guilty eyes and then he points his fingers at her. Blue lightning shoots at her. The attack hits her and she goes flying pass her friends. She lands on the ground and rolls again. Her body screams in pain from her old wounds from her previous battles.

"Ichigo!" he friends call. Then they feel danger.

When they turn around, they see Flamiche, Pai, and Taruto charging at them to attack; Pai already has his fan, Taruto has his click-clack toy, and Flamiche has no weapon. The girls dodge their attacks and it appears that they are fighting these aliens as Deep Blue walks towards Ichigo. When he got closer, Ichigo slowly and painfully tries to get up. She's panting from the pain and sweat is tickling down the side of her face. Her uniform is torn and dirtied from the impacts of the alien attacks and the ground.

"I'm sorry, Masaya," she tells him. She stands up and holds her left arm with her right hand. Deep Blue continues to stare at her as she tells him, "I am so sorry I kept secrets from you. I loved you and I thought that I could tell you everything no matter what it was, but I couldn't. Even though he is dead, Kisshu was never gone. He was here, still with me and how could I tell you that. I couldn't even tell my most precious friends. I am ashamed and I am sorry. I'm so sorry."

"You said 'loved'," Deep Blue points out. Ichigo's eyes widen and her breath is cut short. "However," he starts, his hand holding an electric blast, "your words mean nothing to me now. They're worthless." He aims the attack at her and she goes flying when the hits her. She screams again.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

Hearing her scream, her friends turn to her just in time to see Ichigo hit a tree and slide down to the ground, now having very little strength to get up right away. Deep Blue continues to keep his eyes on her.

"Ichigo!!"

Her friends tried to run towards their friend to save her but they get distracted again from the other aliens. Taruto, Pai, and Flamiche send energy blasts at them and the blasts hits the ground before them to stop them from running.

Taruto yells, "Your fight is with us!!"

"Taru-Taru!!" Pudding calls. Taruto looks at her as she pleads, "Please, let me help my sister, na no da!! She'll die, na no da!"

"That's the idea, you stupid monkey!" Taruto yells back. For the first time, Pudding flinches at his words and looks deeply hurt by them. Taruto's eyes widen when he sees that, especially when her eyes glossen and tears threaten to fall from her eyes.

"Please, Taru-Taru!" she pleads, even louder. "Please, na no da!" Taruto just stares and now Pudding is sniffling.

An energy blast heads for her and she gasps from its sudden appearance. Taruto is surprise to see it too but he just watches as Pudding was able to get out of the way in time. He turns to where the blast came from and he sees Flamiche glaring at him. "Don't get distracted!" he yells.

Taruto lowers his head, trying not to look in his eyes. "I…" he hesitates. That causes more anger to burn in Flamiche's eyes. It didn't take long until Flamiche hits Taruto. Pai gasps as Taruto heads for the hard ground below him. Pudding sees her friend crashing into the ground.

"Taru-Taru!!" she calls.

Flamiche flies down to Taruto and he appears to be conscious but hurt from the impact of Flamiche's hit. Flamiche showed no mercy as he walks in front of Taruto and grabs his shirt. "Do you want my brother's death to be in vain?! Because I will not allow it! If you jeopardize this mission, you will see my brother sooner than you think!" Taruto's eyes were already wide when Flamiche mentioned Kisshu. Everyone was surprise that Flamiche is angry enough to threaten his comrade, and a kid at that! Taruto is close to tears but not out of fear of Flamiche's threat, out of guilt.

Ichigo heard Flamiche's words.

'_Kisshu…'_ she thinks, seeing his smile and feeling the warmth on his lips.

"_Come out, come out, where ever you."_

Hearing her, all eyes go to Ichigo. Even the fighting stops as she tries to push herself into a sitting position. She continues to sing where she is, her voice loud and her words slow. _"I know you're here, you can't hide from me."_ The aliens and the mews are confused of how could she be singing at a time like this as Deep Blue summons a sword that was once wielded by the Blue Knight. He lifts it up and a round blue blast appears to grow at the tip. Her friends got scared real fast.

"Ichigo, get out of there now!!" Mint screams.

But she didn't listen. She's still just sitting there as she finishes the song and Deep Blue swings his sword down to send the attack at her. _"Come out, come out, where ever you are…"_

The sword is swung and the attack heads right for Ichigo. She gasps and looks up to see the attack coming at her. It's big, about the same size as she is now sitting down. She doesn't have the energy to get up and dodge it. She's a sitting duck and the attack appears to be powerful.

"Ichigo-san!!"

"Ichigo onee-chan!!"

"Ichigo!!"

Her friends' cries could do nothing to stop it. Right when the blast was going to hit her, Ichigo screams out a name.

"KISSHU!!!!"

_Block_

Flamiche's eyes widen again in pure shock as he stares at the barrier protecting Ichigo and the attack that was blocked. The attack fades away and like last time, for one moment Flamiche sees his little brother standing in front of Ichigo, protecting here.

Right before Flamiche could no longer see him, he sees Kisshu smirk and his eyes are on Deep Blue.

"_Here I am!"_


	10. We’ll Protect Each Other

Ch. 10: We'll Protect Each Other

Ichigo couldn't believe it. For the first time in so long, she sees Kisshu standing before her, protecting her and it appears that he's not going to disappear. As the others are confused by how a barrier mysteriously appears, Deep Blue's eyes are a bit wide in surprise. He sees Kisshu just as well as Ichigo can.

"Wh-what just happened?" Mint asks, confused. No one had an answer for her, or maybe one does but she's still surprised that Kisshu is standing before her.

Kisshu glares at Deep Blue and yells, "Back the hell off, Deep Blue!!" Deep Blue looks angered and insulted from that.

"K-Kisshu?" Ichigo asks, her voice finally working. Her friends and the other aliens heard her and their eyes widen in surprise. Flamiche is amazed as Kisshu turns around, pulling his attention away from Deep Blue and to the injured human girl behind him. The moment he sees her, he smiles.

"Hi, kitty cat!" he greets with the friendly voice Ichigo longed to hear. "Why didn't you call me earlier?"

The way he speaks, his voice, his smile, and his familiar friendly golden amber eyes; Kisshu is really here in front of her. She lost the will not to cry the moment his eyes stared down at her. Tears leak from her eyes as she cries out, "Kisshu!!" She reaches for him and he grasps her hands without hesitation. He kneels down in front of her and she leans close enough to lean her head on his shoulder without going through it. He rests his chin on her shoulder as she begins to sob. Even his touch is the same.

He tells her, "Shh, shh, it's okay, koneko-chan. I'm here."

"Kisshu," she whines, her voice pitchy from crying. "I am so sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it! I didn't mean to say those things."

"I know," he tells her. "I was watching over you, remember?" She nods and pulls away for a bit.

'_Deep Blue is right,'_ Ichigo thinks.

Kisshu looks at her confused as she does the most surprising thing that could ever happen to him. Her face reaches for his and her lips gently press against his lips. He's surprise by the kiss and the others are really confused.

'_I believe I said 'loved' in past tense for a reason.'_

Deep Blue just gets more and more angry, especially when he sees Kisshu close his eyes and gently returns the affection. The kiss ended shortly after and Kisshu puts on a small grin. He asks, "What was the kiss for?"

Ichigo's cheeks are blushing red but she answers, "Because I missed you and the touch of your lips." She looks at him with waiting eyes and he is surprise.

But he just smiles and tells her, "I missed the taste, koneko-chan." Then he got a bit cocky. "I knew that you wouldn't resist me." Now she's embarrassed and that practically just ruined the moment.

Ichigo stands up and pulls her hands away. He looks at her, startled by her actions as she yells, "You're lucky that this isn't a dream or I will slap you for that!"

Kisshu stands up and gets behind her really fast. She turns to look over her shoulders but he already has his arms circling around her neck and he has that confident, cute smile on his face. "Aw come on, kitty cat. You know it's true." Then they see something at the corner of their eyes. They see an energy blast coming for them and it's bigger than last time. Before Ichigo knew it, she already sees Kisshu in front of her and he creates another barrier. Flamiche sees him again when Kisshu made the barrier and stopped the attack. But his image once again disappears as soon as he saw him.

Deep Blue looks furious, but his cool expression has not been altered. Only his eyes appear deadly angry. "The pest is still here," he comments. The other aliens gasp from hearing that. Then that means that Ichigo has not lost her mind.

Kisshu smirks and says, "I'm impresses, Deep Blue. You can see me." Deep Blue remains silent. As scary as he looks, Kisshu doesn't look the least bit affected by his icy stare. "Though I don't know how since the last time I checked, koneko-chan should be the only one who can see me."

Finally, Mint yells, "Ichigo! What the heck is going on?!" Ichigo turns to her friends and they're all looking at her, mostly concerned.

Ichigo looks at them in guilt before looking away in shame. She bites her lip but she has to tell them. "I'm sorry, everyone," she starts. "But the secret I've been keeping from you is that even though Kisshu died, he's still here. He's always been here, keeping me company, and is protecting me right now." Flamiche is shock to hear her words. His eyes scan the area for his little brother desperately but Ichigo mentions, "But no one else can see him or hear him. I can but," she looks at Deep Blue, "Deep Blue can see him too."

Flamiche faces his lord and asks, "Deep Blue-sama, is it true?!"

Deep Blue doesn't look at him as he asks, "Why does it matter if he's here or not? It doesn't change the fact that he is a traitor to his own kind. He died in order to protect the life he is meant to destroy."

Now Kisshu looks angry. "Now you listen, Deep Blue! I love my people and if I was still alive, I will be willing to die for them. But I love Ichigo and I died for her. I can only spare one life and there was no way in hell I was going to sit by and watch as Ichigo gets thrown into an abandoned building and dies a painful death!" Ichigo looks at him, a bit moved by his words but Deep Blue just makes a 'pft' sound.

"Moron."

Then Deep Blue gets another blast ready. He launches it at Ichigo and Kisshu and Kisshu blocks it again, Flamiche being able to see him when he creates the barrier. The Mew Mews and the other aliens who can't see Kisshu would think that this situation right now is really surreal and would hardly believe that Kisshu's ghost is still here but seeing the barrier coming up when Ichigo hasn't even transformed yet seems like good enough proof for them to believe it. That and Deep Blue even acknowledges his presence.

No matter how many times, Kisshu blocks the attack, Deep Blue's attacks continue. As soon as the others were blocked, he would send another one and Kisshu's barrier would stop it before it even scratched them. Then Deep Blue points all of his fingers at them and lightning shoots out from the finger tips. They form together into a big lightning bolt and it continues to attack Kisshu's barrier like a never ending river. After a bit, Kisshu decides to prepare his own attack and send it to Deep Blue. He charges up his attack and Flamiche sees him again, this time longer since Kisshu is powering up. When Kisshu launches, his older brother can no longer see him. Still Flamiche is confused.

Why is Kisshu trying so hard to protect the human that caused his own demise?

Kisshu's attack pushes against Deep Blue's attack so that he can drop the barrier and focus his energy on his attack. It's a battle of strength and Ichigo can see that Kisshu is running low. He cannot match to Deep Blue's power and he's doing all of this to protect her. Yes, he's dead and there is probably nothing too terrible that can happen to him but his energy is running low and how long can he keep going until he's completely empty. He could disappear and how can she just stand by and watch as that happens. She needs to do something and she needs to do it fast. Ichigo steps back, away from behind Kisshu and runs to the side, her eyes glued to Deep Blue. Both aliens see her running.

"Ichigo!!" Kisshu calls.

Since his attention is elsewhere, Kisshu's attack got weak. Deep Blue didn't care. He drops his attack and turns to Ichigo's direction. Seeing his attack stopped, Kisshu turns to look at Deep Blue just in time to see him prepare another blast and it aims straight for Ichigo. Ichigo stops running and watches as that attack comes for her. She gets hit and is flown back into the trees of the park.

"AAAHHH!!!" she screams as she goes flying deep into the forest. Kisshu is already flying towards her.

"Ichigo!!" her friends call. They didn't waste any time running after her.

The aliens watch the girls run to their friend in confusion and Deep Blue commands, "Let them be." They turn to look at their lord and Deep Blue's sword glows blue.

"Deep Blue-sama?" Flamiche calls, but his lord ignores him.

Deep Blue raises the glowing sword above his head and thrusts it down to the ground. He stabs the earth and a huge explosion goes off towards the city. Lightening from the sky hits the buildings, a strong wind blows through the streets, the ground shook, and anyone unlucky enough gets crushed, electrified, falls to their deaths, or blown into the buildings for their bones to get broken. Flamiche, Pai, and Taruto's eyes widen in surprise as the city of Tokyo collapses. Deep Blue's power…is beyond their wildest dreams. Deep Blue pulls his sword from the ground and raises it to the sky. He points to the land over the fallen Tokyo city and a castle appears, an alien castle. For one moment, Deep Blue smirks in his success.

"Pai, Taruto, Flamiche!" he calls. The three aliens look at him from being called and he looks at them with the same blank expression as before. "It's time for earth's annihilation." Then he teleports away, probably to his castle. Pai and Taruto fallow but Flamiche stops for a moment. He looks at the forest for a short period of time before fallowing his comrades.

The mew mews go deep into the forest, around the area Ichigo should have landed. But someone else is already there by her side. Kisshu is on his kneels by Ichigo's side as she's lying on the ground, her eyes closed. Kisshu looks scared out of his mind as he calls for her.

"Ichigo! Ichigo!" he calls, terrified. "Please wake up! Please!"

Ichigo closes her eyes tightly together before slowly opening them. She feels very weak as her vision begins to clear up and she sees Kisshu over her. She weakly mumbles, "Ki..sshu…" Her hand rises up to his face and he can feel her finger tips against his skin but also through it. She pulls her fingers just a bit as she smiles. "Hi," she greets.

Pudding looks to the side and she sees Ichigo and her raised hand. She yells, "I found Ichigo onee-chan!" The others turn to her direction and they see Ichigo as well. They start rushing to her side as Kisshu gets a bit angry.

"Don't tell me 'hi' when I thought you died!" he scolds. "What the hell were you thinking running out into the open like that?! You should know Deep Blue's real intention the moment he set eyes on you! He wants to kill you!"

"I know that, Kisshu," she tells him, gently. He looks at her, his eyes full of pain as the mew mews stop running. They're only a few feet away as they can see Ichigo sweetly smiling at nothing with her hand touching nothing, or so they see. "But I don't want you to leave me ever again." Kisshu looks surprised.

Ichigo drops her hand and uses it along with her other hand to push herself up. Kisshu backs away as Ichigo gets up into a sitting position. Her friends don't say anything as she takes a moment before talking again. "I will not be the damsel in distress any longer." She looks at him to give him a serious explanation. "For weeks, I have been going through hell and I am tired of it. I am a Mew Mew and I will protect earth and you. I'm not going to allow you to just try and blast Deep Blue to bits while I just stand behind you. Do you understand me?"

How can he not. She made her point perfectly clear. Kisshu nods. "I do understand."

Then they hear someone clearing their throat. They both look up at the other Mew Mews and Mint tells them, "Don't forget. We're mew mews too, Ichigo and we will protect earth alongside you." The other mews nod and in agreement and they all have smiles. Kisshu couldn't help but smile first from the back up as Ichigo took a moment before smiling back at them.

"Thank you, everyone!" she tells them.

Mint puts on a half smile from Ichigo's returned happy nature before returning to her old self as well. "But you can't protect earth looking like a human, especially in those dirty clothes." Ichigo can clearly tell that Mint is trying to be rude but she can't wide away her smile with that attitude.

Ichigo stands up and Kisshu stands up with her. She goes to her pocket and takes out her golden pendant. She kisses it and calls, "Mew Mew Strawberry Metamorphosis!!" Ichigo transforms into Mew Ichigo and she still has the smile on her face. "Let's save earth and kick some alien butt!"

Pudding yells, "Taru-Taru needs to be punished for causing so much trouble!" Ichigo just smiles from her cute behavior.

Then she feels Kisshu's touch on her hand. She looks to the side, only to see Kisshu leaning towards her forehead. He gives her a kiss and her cheeks turn red from the warmth of his lips pressed against hers. He backs away and gives her a sweet and genuine smile. "Even though you told me that you will not be the damsel in distress, I will still protect you my princess." Ichigo's heart is pounding as he tells her, "I made a promise and I intend to keep it. I will protect you no matter what."

The girls can see that Ichigo must be having a moment with Kisshu so they don't say anything. Ichigo smiles back at him, touched by his words before tippy-toeing to his face. She gently kisses his cheek and tells him, "I promise that I will save your butt when you're over doing it." He just laughs from that.

Ichigo turns to her friends and yells out, "Everyone, let's go!"

'_This will be the final fight,'_ Ichigo thinks staring at the faces of her dear friends. _'Everything will be settled after this final battle!'_


	11. Brothers

Ch. 11: Brothers

The Mew Mews and Kisshu arrived inside the castle of Deep Blue thanks to their combined powers. There was an opening from the outside and that was their entrance. They landed on the ground of the castle and look around for any signs of danger. Well, everyone but Ichigo. She feels something.

"I feel it," she mumbles.

Kisshu and her friends look at her startled by what she said. Lettuce asks, "Feel what?"

Ichigo looks like she's in a daze as she stares up at the stairs in front of them. "A strong, warm, nostalgic power."

Mint asks, "Mew Aqua?!"

Ichigo still looks like she's in a daze as she asks, "Is that what this is?"

Kisshu quickly asks, "Where do you feel it?"

"It's up there," Ichigo answers, pointing to the top of the stairs.

Kisshu fallows her hand and says, "That's where Deep Blue should be." Ichigo gasps in surprise then.

"Really?!" she asks. He turns to her and nods.

Mint asks, "What?! Did Kisshu say something?"

Ichigo turns to her friends and answers, "Kisshu says that Deep Blue is up there."

"Then that's our destination," Zakuro says.

Mint nods and turns to the girls. "Let's go!" They all nod in agreement and they start running to the stairs, well Kisshu decides to fly. Then Kisshu feels danger.

"Watch out!!" he yells.

Ichigo, being the only one who heard him, stops running. The other mew mews didn't. Then an attack hits the ground before the running mews; two bolts of lightning, one blue and the other yellow. The other Mew Mews go flying back and Ichigo gasps in horror.

"Everyone!!" she screams, running to them.

Kisshu yells, "Ichigo, stand back!!" She stops and looks up. She sees a huge blast coming at her but before it could hit her, Kisshu stands in front of her. His barrier stops the blast.

"Kisshu!!"

Both Ichigo and Kisshu look up and they see both Pai and Taruto with a kirema anima. Taruto was the one who called for him and he asks, "Why are you protecting that witch?! She killed you, remember?!"

Kisshu growls and glares at his friends in irritation. He mumbles, "If they can hear me, I would say something to that." Then his eyes widen in realization. He just remembers something.

"Taru-Taru," Taruto hears. He looks to the side at the ground and he sees Pudding standing up. "Do we have to fight?" she asks.

"Pudding…" Taruto mumbles, seeing her pleading face. But then he remembers Flamiche's words. He tells her, "Put up or shut up!" Pudding looks hurt from his words as the other Mew Mews look up at him. "Because you die or we will! This is the last fight!"

Pai then yells, "Kisshu, don't protect her this time! Go, kirema anima!"

The kirema anima opens its mouth and a blast forms inside. Kisshu stands his ground in front of Ichigo as the mew mews quickly get up. When the kirema anima launches its attack, Kisshu was going to protect Ichigo again but the other mew mews beat him to it. They stand in front of her and took the attack. Kisshu and Ichigo are surprise as the girls collapse to the ground again.

"Girls!!" Ichigo screams, running to them this time.

Mint sits up and tells her, "Don't worry about us. You have somewhere to be, right?" Ichigo looks confused as she feels Kisshu's hand on her shoulder.

She looks up and Kisshu tells her, "She's right. Let them handle Pai and Taruto."

"But…" Ichigo mumbles, trying to protest.

"Go, Ichigo-san!" Lettuce tells her.

After a moment, Ichigo puts on a brave face and nods. "Alright. Please be safe!" Then she gets up and runs, Kisshu flying besides her. They head for the stairs and Pai growls at her.

"You're not going anywhere!" he yells. He gets a blast ready but Kisshu turns to him and flies up to him.

Kisshu places his hand on his shoulder and Pai feels that. He flinches in surprise as Kisshu tells him, "Stop it, Pai!" He does. The blast in his hand begins to fade away and all of a sudden, it feels like he's not in the castle anymore. He doesn't even see the castle anymore. Only a dark abyss with no one else but him and Kisshu.

Pai looks at him in surprise and asks, _"Kisshu?!"_

Kisshu waves and greets bored, _"Yo, Pai! Long time no see."_

Pai couldn't believe he's seeing him, or at least in this dark abyss he is. Quickly he asks, _"Why did you die for her, Kisshu? She's in the way of saving our people. Don't you care about everyone back home?"_

"_I do,"_ he answers. _"But I care about Ichigo too. That's why I died."_

"_Why?"_

"_Saving Ichigo was no different than saving the people I care about. We already lost so much back home. If I had lost Ichigo that day, I don't think I could have bear with the pain. That's why I'm content with losing my life. She was worth it. Don't you think so, if it was Lettuce who nearly lost her life but she didn't because you took the blow for her?"_

Pai's eyes widen as he asks, _"Lettuce?"_

Kisshu just shakes his head and smiles. _"Let me tell you something,"_ he says. _"There is nothing wrong with loving someone. I saw the way you looked at her when she was hurt. You didn't like it so don't pretend that you don't care. Next time, fallow your feelings when you already feel so strongly for her. Think about it."_

In the real world, Kisshu extracts his hand from Pai's touch and Pai comes back to reality. Kisshu smirks before fallowing Ichigo. To Pai, that discussion felt like it took minutes when it's only been a second. Soon, both Kisshu and Ichigo were out of sight and going up the stairs to Deep Blue.

The fight continues and Pai looks up. His eyes instantly landed on Lettuce and she has her weapons in hand. She points it at the kirema anima and yells, "Ribbon Lettuce Rush!!" The kirema anima saw her attack and dodged it. Lettuce gasps in horror as the kirema anima comes at her. He hits her and she goes flying. "AAAHHHH!!!" she screams as she's flying full speed to the edge of a square pillar. Pai sees that and gasps.

Right before Lettuce's back was going to hit that edge, Pai appears behind her and her body crashes into him. His back hits the pillar and there was a loud…

_Crack_

Hearing that, Taruto turns to the two and he sees Pai and Lettuce hitting the wall. Pai doesn't scream. He tries to deal with the sudden excruciating pain. What he did was similar to what Kisshu did but Pai didn't get hit with glass or a broken pipe, his back was snapped in two. They both began to fall and Taruto watches in disbelief. He screams, "Pai!!!" Pai and Lettuce land on the ground and Taruto didn't move towards them. He was horrified and angry. He turns to the other mews and glares at them. "Damn you all!!" He sends an attack at them and the girls only got seconds to dodge the attack.

Lettuce flinches from the pain of the fall as she opens her eyes. She begins to push herself up and as soon as she's in sitting position, she sees Pai. She gasps in how distorted his body looks and she can hear how shallow his breathing is. Her reaction was panic.

"Oh my god!" she breathes out in shock. She crawls to him and she calls, "Pai!" He looks up at her with weak, dying eyes. That look causes Lettuce to start tearing. "Just hang on, okay?! You're going to be alright! Oh god!" She coves her mouth from the sight of how his body looks bent. She knows that his spine is broken and she knows that people who get a broken spine will die without immediate medical treatment and for those who survive only escape death for a short period of time and they can't walk for the remains of their life. Lettuce doesn't know what to do but cry. She asks, "Why? Why did you save me…all of a sudden?" He didn't answer in words.

Pai lifts his hand to her face and it rests against her cheek. Her eyes are wide as he wipes away tears from her face and his gentle touch feels so warm against her skin. Lettuce couldn't believe this action as Pai smiles at her, a real smile. It almost made her heart leap if she wasn't so sad about his injury. Then Pai just gave up. He closed his eyes and his hand falls from her face. To her, his hand fell in slow motion. She couldn't believe it. Pai just died right in front of her and he did it for her. She covers her mouth in surprise and her eyes unleashed more tears.

"Waaaahhhh!!!" she sobs. "Pai…"

_Crash_

"Aaaahh!"

Lettuce's head snaps up and she sees her friends still fighting the kirema anima. That's right. She has to fight. Her friends are in danger.

Lettuce looks back at Pai and wipes her tears away. "Thank you for saving me, Pai-san," she tells him. She bends down closer to his face and gives him a small peck on his cheek. After that, she gets up and runs to her friends' aid. When the kirema anima sees Lettuce coming to the battle, it raises its arm up and swings it at her. She jumps out of the way and that arm will end up hitting whoever is behind it, Taruto.

"Taru-Taru!" Pudding screams, seeing that arm. He stares at the arm in surprise but then he sees Pudding in front of him. She gets hit by the arm and goes flying through the air until she hits the ground and bounces like a rock.

"Pudding!!" Mint calls.

Lettuce screams, "Pudding-san!!"

Taruto and Zakuro stare at Pudding in shock, until Zakuro gets angry. She pulls her eyes from Pudding to the kirema anima. She readies her weapon and aims it at the kirema anima. "Ribbon Zakuro Spear!!"

The other mew mews got angry as well and start attacking only the kirema anima again. Taruto disappears for a moment. He appears in front of the wounded Pudding and she opens her eyes to look up at him. She breathes out painfully, "Taru-Taru…"

He growls at her for a moment. "What'd you do that for? Were you stupid or something?!"

She shakes her head. "No, na no da. Pudding just wanted to protect her friend, na no da." Taruto's eyes widen in surprise for a moment before pain covers his face. Her words hurt her more than anything.

But then he calls her, "Stupid monkey!" He goes to his side and he pulls out a knife suddenly. Her eyes stare at the knife as he raises it up. "You shouldn't have done that! I should kill you for what you've done to _my_ friends!" Pudding didn't look the least bit afraid and her eyes cause Taruto to hesitate.

Zakuro looks back at Pudding from the corner of her eyes and she sees Taruto with a knife ready to stab her. She aims her weapon at him. "Ribbon Zakuro Spear!!" Taruto hears that and turns around just in time for that attack to hit him. He's hit away from Pudding and she suddenly sits up to watch him hit the wall behind the kirema anima.

"Pudding!!"

She looks up and she sees Mint yelling, "Get over here!" Pudding nods and gets up to run to her friends.

Taruto pushes himself from the wall and winces in the pain of the wall. "Damn," he mumbles.

"Mew Power…"

Taruto's eyes widen in surprise as he looks up. The mews are together and they have their weapons and they're aimed at the kirema anima and him.

"EXTENSION!!!"

There was a big light of colors and it hits the kirema anima and Taruto. The last thing the girls heard before the light began to disappear was the kirema anima's scream.

The light faded away and the kirema anima is gone. But on the ground is Taruto and he has his eyes closed. Pudding gasps in horror and runs to him. "Taru-Taru!!" The girls watch as Pudding runs to Taruto's side. She sits on her knees by his side and lifts him up. "Taru-Taru…?"

Taruto squirts his eyes shut before opening them. He looks up at Pudding and she already has tears leaking from the corner of his eyes. He feels weak and it's really hard to breathe. He knows what's happening, as well as her. He's dying and she took part in it. And yet, he feels no resentment towards her for what happened. He tries to smile and he tells her, "Sorry, Pudding for what I said. I didn't mean them." He stopped for a moment and Pudding took that time to whimper. Tears roll down her face and Taruto has on the sweetest face Pudding has ever seen him put on. "I never really hated you." Right after that, his eye lids feel heavy and he breathes out his last breathe. He has a peaceful look on his face as Pudding looks panicked.

"No, na no da! You can't die, na no da!" she screams, shaking him. But he doesn't wake up and she doesn't see him breathing. "TARUTOOOO!!" Then she begins to sob. She holds his body closer and cries for the loss of her friend.

Mint and Zakuro look sad for their friend as Lettuce looks to the side where Pai should be. Lettuce runs to him and Mint and Zakuro notice. They watch her run to his side and she sits down on her knees as well next to him. Her hand touches his face and it's already cold. She doesn't flinch away as her finger tips trace their way to his hair and then his arm. She stops at his hand and grasps it. Her tears return as she squeezes his hand and tells him, "I'm sorry for what happened. I'm so, so sorry." Then she starts sobbing as well. Both Mint and Zakuro just watch their friends cry for their aliens.

"It's over," Zakuro breathes out, tragically.

Mint nods. "Yeah." Then both of them collapse on the ground for rest and they pant. They can't go on anymore. Mint looks up the stairs that both Ichigo and Kisshu went and could only say one thing. "Ichigo, please be safe. The rest is up to you."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Ichigo and Kisshu were still going up the stairs when Kisshu got a really bad feeling. Not a danger feeling, but more like a feeling that something bad happened. He stops and turns around to look down the stairs. Noticing that he's not flying by her side, Ichigo stops running a few steps ahead of him and turns around to see Kisshu staring down at the stairs. She asks, "Kisshu, what's wrong?"

"I don't know," he answers. Then he turns his head to look back at Ichigo, there are tears running down his cheek from his eyes.

"Oh Kisshu." Ichigo quickly goes down the stairs to him and raises her hand. Her attempt was to try and wipe away his tears but her hand goes right through him, as usual. She pulls her hand back and asks, "Why are you crying?"

His hand goes to his cheek and he wipes away one tear. He looks at it and stars at the teardrop. He answers, "I don't know."

Ichigo's hand rises to his and she tries her best to grasp his hand. He looks at her in surprise and she tells him, "We will go through with this. Everything will be okay."

Kisshu stares at her a little longer before smiling. He uses his other hand to wipe away his tears and he answers, "Yes!"

"Mew Ichigo!"

Both Kisshu and Ichigo look up and they see Flamiche. He's at the top of the stairs and he has a staff in his hands. Kisshu quickly tells Ichigo, "Ichigo, be careful! He's at his most strongest when he uses his weapon."

Ichigo gulps and tells him, "Like he isn't touch enough!"

Flamiche's eyes narrow at her and he aims his weapon at her. "Prepare yourself, Mew Ichigo! Today, you will die!" Both guys expected Ichigo to summon her weapon right then for protection but she doesn't.

Ichigo shakes her head and answers, "No." Both of them look at her in surprise and confusion as she tells him, "I'm sorry but I am in a really big hurry right now and I can't fight with you." She takes the first step out and Flamiche reacts.

Flamiche raises his staff and swings it down. What comes at her is a wind blade. Ichigo's eyes widen for a moment of seeing it until she jumps out of the way before she gets hit. Kisshu covers himself when the attack hits the stairs and rocks start flying everywhere. Ichigo lands on the ground like a cat and tries running up the stairs again. Flamiche attacks her again with the same attack but she dodges again. Soon his attacks came sooner and it became really hard to go up any more steps. Ichigo was lucky enough to have time to land on the ground and rest before she had to jump up and doge another wind blade. Kisshu watches Ichigo dodging the attacks and soon, he can see her starting to get tired. That's not a good thing because she needs ever ounce of energy she has to fight Deep Blue. Then he has an idea.

Ichigo lands on the ground again and another wind blade comes at her. She gets ready to jump up to dodge it again but Kisshu appears in front of her and creates a barrier. Flamiche sees Kisshu for a moment like before until his wind blade hits the barrier and his brother disappears. Still, that one moment was all Kisshu needed before turning to Ichigo. He tells her, "Ichigo, I need you to ask him about the time I tried to use his weapon!"

Ichigo is surprised and confused by that. "What?!" she asks.

"Just ask him!"

Ichigo stares at Kisshu's face to see if he's serious and he is one hundred percent serious. She looks up at Flamiche and yells, "Flamiche! Do you remember when Kisshu tried to use your weapon?" Flamiche's eyes widen from that question. Ichigo waits for him to attack her again but she does. She carefully watches him as his eyes turn to ice.

"Why not ask Kisshu if you want to know so badly?" he asks. "Especially since you can see him."

Before Kisshu could answer for her, she answers, "I want to hear it from your mouth." Kisshu looks up at his older brother and Flamiche is silent for a moment.

Flamiche lowers his staff and he answers, "When he was really young, I left my staff alone for one moment and when I came back, Kisshu has a bleeding arm and my staff is on the floor with blood splatters on the ground." Flamiche chuckles for a moment before saying, "He was only five when it happened. He didn't know better. I had to give him a few bandages just to try and heal the wound but it left a scar."

Ichigo then notices Kisshu moving in front of her. She looks at him and she hears something being unwrapped. Kisshu takes a step to the side and turns to Ichigo half way. He shows her his left arm and there is a long scar from his wrist to his elbow. Kisshu chuckles in remembrance. "I was a stupid kid back then who wanted to be exactly like his older brother. A quick thinker, patient, and strong." Ichigo kind of gets the message as she looks back up at Flamiche.

"Kisshu wanted to be like you when he was a kid," she tells him. "You were everything a good fighter should be."

"But I didn't want to be like that!" he yells. Ichigo and Kisshu are surprise by that as Flamiche looks like he's suffering emotional pain. He looks away as he confesses, "It was because I was a good fighter that it caused my little brother to drift away from me. I wanted to keep the promise to mother and father that I would keep him safe and I would protect him. That's why I became a warrior so that I can be strong enough to protect him."

Kisshu adds, "And it was because of that it made me jealous." Ichigo looks at Kisshu and he explains, "I was always compared to him and it made me angry. I was the best in my class but I could never surpass my older brother."

Ichigo turns back to Flamiche and says, "Kisshu was jealous of how great you were and he wanted to surpass you but he couldn't."

Flamiche looks more in pain then. He almost looks like he's going to cry as he adds, "When it was the day of deciding who would save us by going to earth and destroying the humans, I was picked instead of Kisshu. I knew how badly he wanted the mission so I backed down and allowed him to take it." Flamiche's fists are in tight balls as he mutters to himself, "If I didn't step down, Kisshu would still be alive! I failed in my promise to protect him."

Kisshu turns to Ichigo and tells her, "Tell him that I failed in my promise as well! The promise we made together." Ichigo looks a bit uneasy from the sudden command but she looks back up at Flamiche.

"Kisshu says that he failed in his promise as well," she tells him. He looks at her in surprise as she adds, "The promise that you both made together."

Flamiche looks sad again as he explains, "It was the promise that he would come back victorious and alive. We made it on the same day I stepped down and it was on the day I saw my brother smile after so long." Then he couldn't stand. Flamiche takes a step down and then sits on the first step. He places his weapon on the ground and hides his eyes with his hand. "He wasn't supposed to die. He wasn't…supposed to die…"

Ichigo looks at Flamiche in sympathy. He truly, deeply cares about his little brother. Kisshu looks back at Ichigo and says, "Tell him that letting me go on the mission was something I am eternally grateful for."

Ichigo looks up at him and quickly says, "You tell him." Kisshu looks surprise as she explains, "Express it to him so that he can understand."

"Koneko-chan," he calls, using his nickname for her. "I can't."

"Yes, you can," she tells him. Flamiche looks up at her in confusion as she tells him, "I can't keep telling him what you're saying, Kisshu. I'm not a telephone!"

Flamiche asks, "What's going on?" Ichigo looks back at him and lets out a sigh. Looks like she has to say it anyway. But right when she was going to tell him, she sees Kisshu flying pass her from the corner of her eyes. She stares as Kisshu flies up to his brother and then hugs him, as careful as he can so that he doesn't go through him. To Flamiche, he feels his touch but he's confused by it. "What's happening?"

Ichigo slightly smiles as she starts to take steps closer. She tells him, "Kisshu's just showing how much he appreciates of letting him go on the mission."

Flamiche takes a moment of surprise. He can feel Kisshu hugging him, not hard since Kisshu could easily go through him but it's enough to satisfy him. Ichigo is only two steps away from Flamiche when she stops and Flamiche mumbles, "Kisshu…" He feels Kisshu pull back a bit and Ichigo sees him smile at his older brother.

"Thanks, big brother," he tells him. "I'm really happy right now."

Ichigo had to admit that this scene is a really touching brother-brother moment. She almost feels like crying as she tells Flamiche, "He says thanks and that he's really happy." Then, Flamiche didn't care about his warrior pride. This girl who told him what Kisshu is telling him when he can't hear has broken him. He begins to cry and Kisshu holds him again.

After watching the two brothers a little longer, Ichigo goes up the rest of the stairs. Seeing that she's passing them, Kisshu lets go and flies pass Flamiche. "Ichigo!" he calls. She stops and turns around to face him. He asks, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to deal with Deep Blue," she answers. "Kisshu, you need to stay here with Flamiche."

But he asks, "Why?"

"Kisshu, I'll be fine. Don't get jealous but Masaya needs me while Flamiche needs you." She turns half way back to where Deep Blue is and tells him, "I'll be back." Then she turns around to run.

"Wait!"

She stops and turns around and the next moment, Kisshu's lips meet hers. She's surprise by the sudden action but she relaxes and closes her eyes to savor the moment of his lips pressed against hers. Then they break the kiss and she stares deep into his golden amber eyes as he does the same to her chocolate brown ones. He tells her, "Please be careful."

She smiles at him and raises her hand to his face again. She tries as best not to have her hand go through as she tells him, "I promise." Then she turns around and runs away. He slightly reaches for her but he stays where he is and watched her go. When she was out of sight, he turns around to his brother.

Flamiche is still crying as Kisshu walks over to him. He sits behind him and leans on his back as best as he can. Flamiche gasps from the touch and takes a moment before asking, "Kisshu…?" He nods.

"I'm here, brother," Kisshu tells him, rubbing his back. "I'm here." Then his hands smoothen their way to Flamiche's shoulders. Flamiche had the urge to touch his shoulder and expect to touch his brother's hand but he knows he can't. He cries again and Kisshu leaning against him for comfort.


	12. Restore

**A/N: Hi guys!! I have two questions to ask of you. Number one! Should I add another chapter to this story to see how everyone is coping with Kisshu and Ichigo being dead and what happens after or should I just leave it at that? And number two! Should I write down in author's note things like how I'm communicating with the TMM characters or leave no author's note at all unless I have an announcement or question like before? I don't know. But I do need answers so let me know!!**

**I do NOT own TMM or the songs or movies I use in my stories. I just think of ideas. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and support of my stories and please keep them coming!! I love them all! Thank you and please enjoy!!**

Ch. 12: Restore

After moments of crying, Flamiche's tears begin to cease. Kisshu is still leaning against his brother's back at the time. Flamiche tries to calm himself down before he asks, "Kisshu, do you think I failed mother and father?"

Kisshu shakes his head. "No." To express his answer, his hands move from his back to his neck. He circles his arms around his neck and Flamiche can feel them around him. It causes him to smile a bit with sad eyes.

"Even though you did, I feel like you didn't fail me either," Flamiche tells him. "The mission was to save the people we love and you love that girl, right? Even though she's a human?"

Kisshu answers, "Who cares if she's human!" His arms tighten on his hold to prove his point as he tells him, even though he can't hear, "I love her all the same."

Almost like he did hear him, Flamiche lets out a chuckle. "I guess you're right about that." Kisshu couldn't help but smile at the success of his brother understanding. Then he gasps when he suddenly has a really bad feeling.

Kisshu pulls his arms away from Flamiche all too quickly for Flamiche to feel comfort. Kisshu stands up and he's suddenly very, very worried. "Ichigo!!" The weird part, Flamiche heard him. But when Kisshu turns around to go to Ichigo, she's suddenly right there in front of him as soon as he turned around. He jumps back from the sudden surprise as Ichigo takes a step back from Kisshu's sudden jolt. Kisshu lets out a deep breath and places his hand on his chest over his heart like he just had a heart attack. "Don't ever do that again, koneko-chan," he tells her. "You scared the death out of me." After breathing for a moment, Ichigo doesn't say anything and that is weird. Kisshu calms down and asks, "Are you alright? I got worried all of a sudden." That was when she started crying. He's surprised by her tears as she looks really sad and guilty.

"Kisshu," she whimpers. "I am so, so sorry."

"Koneko-chan," he calls gently. "What are you sorry for?"

"Mew Ichigo," he hears Flamiche breathes out. Kisshu turns around to look at his brother as he stands up.

"Flamiche?" Kisshu calls, confused. Of course he doesn't hear his younger brother as he begins to run right pass them. The weird part is that he just ran like he didn't even see Ichigo. Like she's not here…

Kisshu looks at Ichigo in surprise when his brother left as she raises her hand so that her palm is facing him. A bit cautious, he raises his hand and gently presses his against it. But to him, her hand feels solid. He pushes even more and still his hand won't go through. He gasps in shock. He pulls his hand away quickly and she slowly drops hers. He asks, "A-a-are you…dead?" Ichigo's only answer was a nod. From her answer, he yells out, "Damn it!" Ichigo jumps from the sudden swear as she hears him starting to blame himself. "Why did I listen to you about staying here?! If I was there, then you wouldn't be dead. Damn it, I failed my promise."

Ichigo quickly tells him, "Kisshu, listen to me! I'm happy I died." Kisshu looks at her startled by what she said but also in shock of what she could mean when she said those words. But she explains, "It's not that I committed suicide or that I was hoping that I would die in battle. It was an accident. Masaya is dead as well. He actually wasn't completely being controlled by Deep Blue like he claimed and Masaya tried to take control over his body again. But right before Deep Blue died, he sent a blast at me unexpectedly. Both of them are dead and I got hit. There was a sharp rocking sticking out from the commotion we created." She died…similar to how Kisshu died.

He tells her, "That is exactly why it's my fault that you died. I should have protected you from that blast and you would still be alive now."

"As I said before, Kisshu," she starts. "I'm happy I died because then now we can be together."Of course he's surprised to hear that. Counting the time that in the park and when he came back, this is the third time that she ever said something about a relationship they have with the other. But hearing it causes Kisshu's heart to bleed.

"You think I want that?!" he asks her. "If I had wanted that, I would have told you to commit suicide the day I came to you after I died."

"Kisshu, I get it alright!" she yells, now a bit irritated. He stays silent as she asks, "You were going to say that you wanted me to live a full and happy life, right?" He took a moment but he nods. "But I can't. That's the thing." Kisshu's eyes are wide in surprise of that but for only a moment. "I can't live a full and happy life, not without you. How do you expect me to live the rest of my life without you if I had lived pass this?" Her hands rise up to his face, both of them and now they cup his face without going through his skin. Her hands and his face feel solid to each other. He can feel her caring touch and oh how he longed for this touch. Then she tells him, "I love you, Kisshu."

Ichigo can clearly see that Kisshu did want this to happen but it wasn't the right thing to do. It was only his selfish desire. Now it's happening right now. His hand goes to her face and his thumb rubs against her cheek, now soft and solid to him. He tells her softly, "I love you too."

Ichigo then smiles. "I know," she says. "Let's be together forever, okay?" He didn't answer with words, only his lips. He quickly kisses her and she instantly gives into the kiss. Now that they can touch each other, they can now kiss as hard and firm as they want without holding back. Ichigo's arms circle around his neck and his arms wrap around her body. They hold each other tight and they pull each other closer to deepen the kiss.

Soon the kiss ended and both of them just stared into each other's eyes for a moment longer. Ichigo goes back to her story shortly after they took a rest. "Masaya gave me one more thing when I died." Kisshu looks confused as Ichigo slides her arms off him and pulls away from his hold. But she grabs his hand and places it over his heart. When he touches it, it feels so warm, nostalgic, and really powerful. His eyes widen in surprise of the power and looks at her as she tells him, "The Mew Aqua was inside his body the whole time. The last small fragments of it entered his body when he turned into Deep Blue. With this, I cannot only restore earth to its natural beauty but I can also restore your planet as well."

He asks out of concern, "But what will it do to you?"

She answers, "I will feel weak but I'll be alright. I'm dead. What's the worst that can happen? However, I can't do it by myself. I need your help."

Kisshu stares at her a moment longer, still trying to progress it all in his mind. Then he softly smiles at her and grasps her hand. "What do you wish for me to do, koneko-chan?"

She smiles from his question. She doesn't answer the question as she goes up to him and hugs him; her arms wrapped around his chest. He hugs her back with one arm around her waist and the other with its hand in her short neon pink hair. He holds her close and they both stay silent to savor the moment.

Soon Ichigo tells him, "Let's save our homes together. It's the last thing we can do before we go, right?"

He nods. "Yes." He looks down at her face again and she looks up at his. They kiss again without another word.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The Mew Mews are still at the bottom of the castle resting or at least trying to stop their tears. But it's hard. Pai did after all die to save Lettuce and Taruto was Pudding's best friend, to her at least. Now both of them are dead and Lettuce and Pudding are trying to stop crying. Mint and Zakuro are still resting and they are still at the same spot they collapsed at, waiting for Ichigo to come down those stairs.

Then they hear footsteps coming down the stairs.

Mint and Zakuro look up and Mint asks, "Ichigo?!" Lettuce and Pudding look up after hearing Mint's call. But instead of seeing their best friend, they see Flamiche slowly coming down the stairs with their best friend in his arms. He's carrying her bridal style and her head is limping backwards. Mint asks as soon as she sees them, "Flamiche! What did you do to Ichigo?"

At the bottom of the stairs, Flamiche answers sadly, "I did nothing." After that answer, the girls thought they could breathe easier now but why is Ichigo asleep?

Lettuce asks, "But what's wrong with her?"

"I did nothing," Flamiche repeats. "But she's dead. I found her with a sharp rock through her body." None of the girls could believe what they're hearing. Ichigo is dead?!

Mint then gets up and runs to him. The other girls watch as Mint only stops a few feet away from Flamiche and Ichigo. She gasps and covers her mouth in terror. Now that she's closer, she sees the wound the rock created on the body. Mint sees Ichigo's bloody Mew Mew uniform and her chest is not going up and down to show that she's breathing.

"It can't be true," Mint breathes out, unable to believe what' she's seeing. The other girls' eyes widen and soon Lettuce and Pudding could feel more tears coming. Mint is crying too as she screams, "IT CAN'T BE!!" She collapses on the floor again and begins to sob in her hands. Flamiche just stares at her a bit longer, seeing the grief this girl has over Mew Ichigo. Zakuro looks down at the ground tragically and tries to hold back her tears of grief. As the girls cry, Flamiche looks up and around. He sees the damages that the fight down here created and he sees the bodies Pudding and Lettuce are next to. Pudding is still holding the dead body of Taruto as Lettuce is leaning over Pai's body.

"Did they die for your sakes?" Flamiche asks. Hearing that causes both Lettuce and Pudding to cry again. Even more now since their friend is also dead. Flamiche takes that as an answer; yes.

_Rumble_

The Mews and Flamiche look up sharply as the ground beneath them continues to shake. An earthquake or a ship quake?

Mint asks, "What's going on?!"

Flamiche answers, "There's something wrong with the ship. We have to leave now!" As the rumble continues and now boulders are falling from the ceiling, Flamiche rushes to Mint. Lettuce and Pudding are holding onto both Taruto and Pai as the rocks continue to fall. Flamiche passes Ichigo to Mint and tells her, "Take Mew Ichigo's body and go to Pai. Hurry!!"

Before Mint could nod, Flamiche gets up and flies over to Pudding and Taruto. Mint gets up as best as she can with Ichigo's body limping on her and she runs to Lettuce. Zakuro gets up as well and fallows her. When Pudding senses Flamiche's presence, she opens her eyes and looks up at him. He takes Taruto's body and Pudding allows him. He tells her, "I'll take Taruto. Go to Pai." He gets up before she could answer. As he flies over to the ground, Pudding tries to get up as best as she can and runs after him. One or two times after she pass a certain area, the ground would crack and separate from each other. Lettuce is still covering her ears from the commotion even though she's surrounded by her friends.

Flamiche arrives with Taruto's body and with Pudding fallowing him. He places Taruto on the ground next to Pai and orders everyone, "Make sure you're all in physical contact with each other!"

Mint instantly grabs Zakuro's hand and Zakuro grabs Lettuce. Lettuce grabs Pai and Flamiche moves Taruto's arm close so that Taruto and Pai would touch. Pudding grabs a hold of Taruto and then Flamiche's wrist. He grabs on to Ichigo's hand and concentrates. In moments time, he teleported everyone from the shaky grounds of the castle to the still ground of earth. On earth, they let go of the other and look up at the sky.

The castle begins to dissolves into billions and billions of molecules into thin air. In moments it was completely gone but then a big bright white light appears from where the castle once was. The light became so bright that the mew mews and Flamiche had to cover their eyes to protect them. But in that light, Ichigo and Kisshu are there. Ichigo stands before Kisshu and Kisshu watches as Ichigo places her hand over her chest where the Mew Aqua should be. She pulls her hands from her chest and with it, the Mew Aqua is pulled from her breasts. She presents it to Kisshu and he places his hands under hers. Then they pull their hands away and thus separating the Mew Aqua. Ichigo puts her half back into her chest and Kisshu puts his half in his bosom. Once the Mew Aqua completely enters their bodies, they both end up glowing white. They lean back and Ichigo's hand points to the sky. Up from the dark shadows above Tokyo, colorful bubbles begin to fall from the sky.

The light begins to fade and the Mew Mews and Flamiche open their eyes and lower their arms. When they see the colorful bubbles falling from the sky, they look up to watch them fall. Soon trees and flowers begin to grow. They look at the ground when they notice how flowers and trees suddenly appeared. Then they see the bubbles land on the once fallen buildings of Tokyo. Just like the flowers and trees, the mess Deep Blue created disappears and the buildings are standing as if they were never destroyed. The bubbles give off a soothing light and the Mew Mews and Flamiche notice that when the bubbles fall on them, they feel so warm.

Pudding looks up and wonders, "This is…Mew Aqua, na no da?"

Zakuro has her hand over her chest as she mumbles, "Such a wonderful feeling."

Mint looks at her arms and lets out in surprise, "My scars and wounds are gone!"

Lettuce looks at her hand and gasps in surprise. Then she sees something at the corner of her eyes. She looks up at Pai's body and she sees a very shocking sight. She sees a glowing Kisshu kneeling before Pai as if he's checking his body. "Geeze, Pai!" he lets out. Everyone heard him and gasp. They look at him and he seems to be ignoring him. He scratches the back of his head as he says, "When I mean 'follow your feelings', I don't mean throw your life away when you could do so much more. Next time, create a barrier or something." Then he hovers his hand over Pai's forehead and moves it down to his back. Slowly, Pai's disjointed body begins to return back to it's proper form. When Kisshu hovers his hand back to Pai's forehead, Pai then opens his eyes. Lettuce couldn't believe what she's seeing as Kisshu pulls his hand away and Pai flutters his eyes open.

When Pai looks up and sees Kisshu, his eyes widen and he suddenly sits up. "Kisshu?!" he breathes out in surprise.

Kisshu greets, "Yo, Pai! Scuse me." He flies over Pai's body and glides down to Taruto. Pai's eyes didn't look away as Kisshu shakes his head when he sees Taruto. "And they call me the idiot." He does the same to Taruto as he did to Pai but instead of hovering his hand over Taruto's body, he just places his hand over his forehead. In seconds, Taruto opens his eyes and gasps. He pants to breathe in the earth air as Pudding can feel her heart pounding with joy in her chest.

Taruto sees Kisshu and lifts himself up in a sitting position like Pai. "Kisshu?!"

Kisshu looks annoyed as he tells them, "Okay, guys. I think I know my name by now. 'Nice to see you again' would be nice, maybe." Then Pudding could no longer contain it.

"Taru-Taru!!"

Before the three aliens knew it, Pudding hugs Taruto and she pushes him back to the ground. "Aaahh!!" he lets out before crashing onto the ground. Kisshu watches blinking as Pudding has tears at the corner of her eyes.

"You're alive, na no da!" she cheers. "Taru-Taru's alive, na no da!"

Taruto grunts, "Yeah, I get that!" Kisshu just shakes his head in disappointment.

"Pai-san!"

Kisshu looks up and Pai does the same. Next to him is Lettuce. She's smiling and she has tears at the corners of her eyes. She tells Pai, "Thank goodness. You're alive. I'm so glad." Then her tears explode from her eyes. Kisshu stares at Pai, waiting to see what his reaction would be.

Pai's eyes grow tender and his hand rises to her face. She looks at him as he wipes away a tear. "The sight must have been terrible," he tells her. "I'm sorry you have to witness it." But all Lettuce does is hold his hand and presses it against her face. She smiles warmly at him and he had to give her a small smile to reassure her. Kisshu smiles at how his friends are progressing with their girls.

He rubs his nails on his shirt and notes, "My work here is done." Pai, Lettuce, Taruto, and Pudding look at him like they didn't notice him before and Mint's eyes widen in disbelief.

She screams, "What about Ichigo?!"

Kisshu looks at her and then sees the body she's holding. He stares at Ichigo's body for a moment before smiling. He tells her, "Sorry, but I can't."

"Why?" she asks, angry. "I thought you love her!" He doesn't lose his smile. In fact, he disappears. Everyone gasps in surprise of his disappearance before they hear, "Hey, honey! You done yet?"

When the others turn around, they see both Kisshu and Ichigo, who is also glowing. He holds her hand like he's leading her as they gently land on the solid ground of earth. He just looks at her as she looks at only him as well. She giggles slightly and tells him, "Almost. Your leader left quite a damage in Tokyo and most of the earth is still contaminated."

Kisshu lets go of her hand and scratches his chin. "Hmmm," he lets out. "I wonder why." Ichigo slightly hits him in the side with her elbow and he laughs. "Ow." She laughs with him as well.

"Ichigo?!" Mint calls.

Both Ichigo and Kisshu look at the group like they just remembered that they're there. Now everyone is standing up and staring at them in disbelief since one glowing person is someone who has been dead for weeks and the other is just recently dead. The bubbles are still falling.

"How the heck did you die?" Mint asks, her voice close to crying. "Did you commit suicide or something?"

"I just explained that," Ichigo answers. "I died because of a battle accident. Do you think I would run into a sharp stone and have it go all the way through my body? Not possible with my strength."

"Okay, honey," Kisshu says, getting her attention. "I don't think we need the gruesome details."

"I'm just saying," Ichigo tells them. Then he turns to her friends and smiles. "I am sorry that it happened, guys. But I'm happy. Tell my parents that I'm sorry too but there is something I need to do and I can't do it when I'm alive."

Kisshu grasps her hand and brings it to his mouth. Ichigo looks up at him as he gently kisses it and says, "We have one more stop to go before we can leave for good." Ichigo nods in agreement.

Mint asks, "Where?"

Both of them answer, "Just one more planet to restore." The aliens' eyes widen in shock of which planet they mean.

Then the bubbles stopped falling. As soon as the last bubble hit the ground and sprouted another flower, Ichigo feels really weak. For one moment, the living doesn't see her like she just disappeared but Kisshu sees her ready to faint. Ichigo falls towards Kisshu's direction and he catches her. When Kisshu touched her, she became visible for the others to see. "Whoa!" Kisshu lets out, catching her. Ichigo leans on Kisshu's shoulder for a bit before looking up at him. He asks her, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm a little tired," she answers. "But I'll be fine." Then both of them look back at their friends. Ichigo tries to straighten herself as Kisshu still holds her up. She tells them, "This is the final good bye, guys." That was when her friends started to cry again. Tears exploded from their eyes and rolled down their faces, well Mint, Lettuce, and Pudding are crying like that. Zakuro is trying to hold her crying back. But they weren't the only ones crying, tears begin to fall from Ichigo's eyes as well. She tries to say, "Take care of my parents, okay?" They didn't answer. Mint, being the closest, nods with her hands covering her eyes to try and hide her tears.

Kisshu then turns his attention to Pai and Taruto. "Pai, Taruto!" he calls. They look at him and he says, "When you guys go home, don't be gone too long. You both have something on earth to return too."

"Shut up, idiot!" Taruto yells, tears starting to fall from his eyes as well. Taruto tries to wipe them away and Kisshu just lets out a small chuckle from his reaction.

Then he looks at Ichigo. She nods and he kisses her forehead. When she lets her go, she disappears from the eyes of the living. Her friends call, "Ichigo!"

But then Kisshu flies up to Flamiche. Before he knew it, Kisshu hugs him. Flamiche's taken back by the hug as the smile on Ichigo's face sweetens. Flamiche is surprise by his touch. Kisshu doesn't feel like he can go through his body. It almost feels like he's right here in front of him but he has no warmth. Before he could progress it, Kisshu pulls away. "Stop getting so upset all the time," Kisshu tells him. "Also, go find yourself a girl. Love can do many strange things to a person and it can make them do strange things too." He winks right after he said that and Ichigo has an eerie feeling from that wink.

"Kisshu!" Ichigo calls a little embarrassed. Kisshu looks at her confused as she tells him, "Don't say things like that!"

Kisshu lets go of his brother and shrugs his shoulders. "I'm just saying." The others are confused but Flamiche only smiles.

Kisshu feels Flamiche's hand on his head and looks up at his older brother. He says, "Now I understand why you love Ichigo so much." Ichigo is blinking in surprise as Kisshu looks like he's getting the wrong idea of his older brother's words.

"When I say get a girl, I don't mean my girl, Flamiche!" Kisshu tells him as another way of saying 'Back off, buddy!'. But Flamiche only continues to smile.

Now he's ruffling his brother's hair as he says, "You're still a hot head, little brother." Kisshu crosses his arms in front of his chest and he pouts like a little kid. Ichigo laughs.

"Now I know where Kisshu gets his teasing character from," she notes before laughing again.

Kisshu turns to her after he heard that and whines, "Koneko-chan!!" She continues to laugh as Flamiche then starts to pat his head.

Kisshu looks back at him as his brother says, "I'll miss you, Kisshu." Kisshu stands still and stares from that. Flamiche pets his head a little more before dropping his hand from his head.

Then Kisshu smirks and tells him, "Get yourself a girl and you won't miss me as much." After he said that, he goes back to Ichigo. She offers her hand to him and he grasps it, causing her to appear in front of everyone again. He asks her, "Shall we go?"

Ichigo nods at him before they both look at their friends. She waves as she tells them, "Bye-bye!" Then Kisshu flies up and helps Ichigo up in the air. She fallows him and he leads her up to the sky.

Some of her friends scream, "Wait!!" But they just continue to fly off to Kisshu's planet. Soon they were lost with the billion of stars in the night sky, not looking back.


End file.
